HomePod mini Launches in Austria and Ireland, Coming to New Zealand Later This Month
Apple last month announced that the HomePod mini would be made available in several new countries in June. Now, less than a month later, the HomePod mini has officially launched in Austria and Ireland, and is listed as "available in June" in New Zealand, suggesting availability in the next couple of weeks.
The HomePod mini is the follow-up to the original HomePod released in 2018. The full-sized HomePod failed to become a mainstream hit, leading to its discontinuation. The $99 HomePod mini features a significantly smaller design than the original HomePod but offers the same functionality enabled by Siri.
The HomePod mini first launched in October of 2020 in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Spain, and the UK. Both the HomePod and HomePod mini will gain support for Apple Music's recently launched lossless audio feature via a software update later this year. Additionally, the HomePod mini will be able to be set as the default output speaker for Apple TV 4K starting later this year.
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