HomePod

HomePod was the first-generation home hub and dedicated speaker from Apple, with Siri built in as an intelligent home assistant.

The product line was announced at WWDC17 on the 5th June 2017, and Apple said it would make its debut in December of that year in the US, UK and Australia.

Apple, however, faced delays which led them to delay the product’s launch for a few months until ultimately releasing the device in February 2018.

The first-generation HomePod was a cylindrical shape wrapped in a fabric mesh that sound could travel through, with a glass top surface that showed the glow of Siri, officially called the Siri Waveform.

This top surface also supported touch controls, including a tap to start playing music, press and hold for Siri and had volume controls on the glass surface.

The first-generation HomePod was joined by the HomePod mini a couple of years later in 2020, and was technically succeeded by this device a year later.

In 2021, Apple discontinued the HomePod to focus on the HomePod mini product line. However, Apple made no further changes to the HomePod mini apart from introducing new colours until the second-generation made its debut in October 2026, after Apple had ultimately introduced the second-generation HomePod in 2023.

Who is this HomePod for?

The first generation HomePod was a dedicated high-quality music speaker built for deep integration with Apple Music. Retailing for over £300, it was only for those who wanted a premium listening experience and deep integration with their Apple devices and services.

New to this generation:

• Mesh speaker design
• A8 chip
• Siri

Design

Cylindrical fabric mesh design available in Space Grey and White.

Speaker Details

The HomePod had a high-excursion woofer and seven horn-loaded tweeters with customer amplifiers.

The device was also stereo pair capable, meaning you could use two with an Apple TV, and had six microphones for Siri when further away.

Features

• Apple Music
• Third-party music streaming
• Siri
• Radio
• News briefings
• Apple Podcasts
• Touch controls to skip, pause and play audio
• Apple Home Hub

Compatibility

• iPhone 6s and later
• All iPhone SE models
• iPod touch (7th generation)
• iPad mini 4 and later
• iPad Air 2 and later
• iPad 5th generation and later
• All iPad Pro models