Apple has unveiled its new HomePod wireless speaker, which is set to take on Amazon in the home hi-fi market.
Revealed at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), the wire-free system can be controlled using Apple's Siri voice assistant and is "designed to work with an Apple Music subscription" - costing £9.99 per month - says the company.
In a similar fashion to the way the Amazon Echo works, users simply say: "Hey Siri" followed by a request such as: "Play The Beatles" to listen to songs in their collection or from the Apple Music streaming service.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It's also expected that owners will be able to stream music directly to the HomePod using Apple's AirPlay 2 wireless connection.
The HomePod is "packed with an Apple-designed upward-facing woofer for deep bass" under its Mac Pro-style outer shell, reports the Financial Times. It will also have seven tweeters and "room-sensing technology that adapts its sound to wherever it might be placed".
Wareable reports buyers can "pair two up for a bigger sonic wallop", although it is not known "how multi-room setups will work".
Industry analyst Ben Wood told the BBC: "It's a logical step for Apple, to ensure that they don't miss the opportunity to get a smart device right in the centre of people's homes.
"There has been a huge amount of hype around Amazon Echo and Google Home, but we are really at the start of this technology."
Apple's HomePod will reach stores in December, reports ArsTechnica, with prices expected to start "somewhere between £330 and £370" - more than double Amazon's £149 Echo and nearly three times the price of Google Home.
Is Apple developing an Amazon Echo rival?
Apple is reportedly ready to unveil a smart speaker to rival the Amazon Echo Show at next month's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in California.
Analysts told MacRumors there was "a greater than 50 per cent chance" the tech giant will debut a new device controlled by its Siri voice assistant.
Details are scarce, but they say the speaker will include a touchscreen interface which could be used to display movies or TV shows in a similar fashion to Amazon's Echo Show, which was announced last week.
It could also compete with the Echo Show's $229.99 (£178) price tag.
Reports also say next month's conference will also feature a new 10.5ins iPad Pro.
According to 9to5Mac, the tablet "will look similar to the 9.7-inch iPad Pro but feature narrower bezels" and will "pack a larger display into the same approximate chassis size".
It's expected to have a similar look to the upcoming iPhone 8, adds the website, while leaks from an accessory brand suggest a launch date in June.
Apple announced an array of new products and features at last year's WWDC, including MacOS Sierra and iOS 10 operating systems.
However, the show rarely sees the company reveal new hardware, which are usually reserved for conferences towards the end of the year.
WWDC runs from 5 to 9 June.
-
September 14 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-warTalking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Albania’s AI government minister: a portent of things to come?In The Spotlight A bot called Diella has been tasked with tackling the country's notorious corruption problem
-
The tiny Caribbean island sitting on a digital 'goldmine'Under The Radar Anguilla's country-code domain name is raking in millions from a surprise windfall
-
GPT-5: Not quite ready to take over the worldFeature OpenAI rolls back its GPT-5 model after a poorly received launch
-
Deep thoughts: AI shows its math chopsFeature Google's Gemini is the first AI system to win gold at the International Mathematical Olympiad
-
The jobs most at risk from AIThe Explainer Sales and customer services are touted as some of the key jobs that will be replaced by AI
-
Why AI means it's more important than ever to check terms and conditionsIn The Spotlight WeTransfer row over training AI models on user data shines spotlight on dangers of blindly clicking 'Accept'
-
Are AI lovers replacing humans?Talking Points A third of Gen Z singles use tech as a 'romantic companion'
-
Palantir: The all-seeing tech giantFeature Palantir's data-mining tools are used by spies and the military. Are they now being turned on Americans?
