Apple Says HomePod 2 Also Works as Default Speaker With Select Macs

Wednesday October 14, 2026 7:25 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Full Sized HomePod 2 An addendum to our report about the HomePod mini 2 working as a default speaker on all Mac models with Wi-Fi 6E and later: Apple says this ability extends to the full-sized HomePod 2.

Apple's fine print for HomePods as default Mac speakers says "compatible with HomePod mini 2 and HomePod (2nd generation) with support on all Mac desktops and laptops with Wi-Fi 6E or later."

Popular Stories

Siri AI Coming to HomePod

Wednesday September 23, 2026 10:04 am PDT by Juli Clover

Apple's smarter, more capable version of Siri is expanding to the HomePod, according to details found by code sleuth pdfu. According to pdfu, HomePod Software 27 includes the system behind Siri AI, called "Linwood," along with new status lights in the Siri AI colors. Since HomePod Software 27 is out and Siri AI isn't available on existing HomePods, it's possible support will be limited to...

• 91 comments

HomePod 2 White and Midnight Feature Blue Orange

Apple Still Plans to Release a New Full-Sized HomePod

Wednesday September 30, 2026 6:03 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today briefly mentioned that "Apple aims to eventually update its larger HomePod," assuring that the company remains committed to the full-sized speaker, which was discontinued in 2021 and reintroduced in 2023. The report said a new HomePod mini, new Apple TV 4K, and an all-new Apple smart home hub will all be announced on Tuesday, October 13, but it sounds like a new ...

• 65 comments

Apple TV 4K Rumored to Support Four HomePods for Surround Sound

Tuesday October 6, 2026 7:40 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Last month, a proven leaker revealed that Apple has tested the ability to connect four HomePods to an Apple TV 4K for surround sound, with the HomePods intended to be arranged in front-left, front-right, rear-left, and rear-right positions. Now further evidence of this functionality has surfaced ahead of an announcement from Apple. First, the same leaker known as "pdfu" has uncovered...

• 132 comments

Top Rated Comments

WhereAmI

27 minutes ago at 08:10 am

This is one of the most confusing and least well understood Apple product issues ever. From what I gather (and I may be wrong), these are the facts:

AirPlay 1 had unusable lag for live applications (eg gaming, which can’t delay/buffer to sync with the lag), something having to do with wifi limitations. AirPlay 2 brought this lag under a second, which is still unusable for most people.

Bluetooth, the industry standard here, also has some lag, but much less than AirPlay 2.

HomePods have always had bluetooth but Apple never enabled it for audio output, it was only used for config or something. Understandably annoying.

So what changed now? Either the AirPlay protocol has changed again to reduce the lag further, or bluetooth is being enabled for audio. If it’s tied to wifi 6e, probably the former.

Any insight here would be appreciated.

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

mdnz

30 minutes ago at 08:08 am

Wouldn’t be surprised if this’ll work on any laptop without Wifi 6E in 3 months when the protocol is reverse engineered with AI.

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Ron21

30 minutes ago at 08:07 am

Does this mean there is no more delay when using HomePod as a speaker for Mac?

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)