Apple has launched the second generation of its Siri-equipped HomePod smart speaker. It includes support for immersive Spatial Audio tracks and new ways to manage tasks and control a smart home. The new HomePod allows users to create smart home automations using Siri and check temperature and humidity in a room. The device can recognise smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and will send users notifications to their iPhones when one goes off in the home.

The new HomePad is Matter-compliant, and can act as a home hub for Matter-enabled accessories and devices, allowing users access when away from home.

Apple has added room sensing technology to the new HomePad, allowing it to recognise sound reflections from nearby surfaces to determine if it is against a wall or free-standing, and then adapt sound in real time.

Two or more HomePod or HomePod mini speakers can work in sequence together, performing together or separately across multiple rooms. Users can also create a stereo pair with two HomePod speakers in the same space.

Using Ultra Wideband technology, users can hand off whatever they’re playing on iPhone, such as a phone call, podcast or song, to a HomePod. Moving an iPhone close to a HomePod will prompt personalised song and podcast recommendations.

HomePod can recognise up to six voices, with individualisation, reminders, settings and calendars for each individual.

With Sound Recognition, HomePod can listen for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and send a notification directly to the user’s iPhone if a sound is identified. The new built-in temperature and humidity sensor can measure indoor environments, so users can create automations that close the blinds or turn on the fan automatically when a certain temperature is reached in a room.

By activating Siri, users can control a single device or create scenes like “Good Morning” that put multiple smart home accessories to work at the same time, or set up recurring automations hands-free like “Hey Siri, open the blinds every day at sunrise.” A new confirmation tone indicates when a Siri request is made to control an accessory that may not visibly show a change, like a heater, or for accessories located in a different room. Ambient sounds — like ocean, forest, and rain — have also been remastered and are more integrated into the experience, enabling customers to add new sounds to scenes, automations, and alarms.

Users can also navigate, view, and organise accessories with the redesigned Home app, which offers new categories for climate, lights, and security, enables easy setup and control of the smart home, and includes a new multicamera view.

“Leveraging our audio expertise and innovations, the new HomePod delivers rich, deep bass, natural mid-range, and clear, detailed highs,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With the popularity of HomePod mini, we’ve seen growing interest in even more powerful acoustics achievable in a larger HomePod. We’re thrilled to bring the next generation of HomePod to customers around the world.”