Apple Confirms First-Gen HomePod mini Cannot Support Siri AI

Apple officially announced the new HomePod mini through a press release on October 14, 2026, with the Chinese mainland version priced at 1099 CNY, marking a significant price increase compared to the previous generation priced at 749 CNY. Powered by the S10 chip, the new smart speaker is available in pink, green, blue, white, and midnight, combining computational audio to adjust dynamic range, loudness, and acoustic performance in real-time. It features Sound Glow, a new lighting effect that changes the top illumination according to the rhythm of the music and generates corresponding colors based on album art. For multi-room and home theater audio, users can pair four HomePod mini 2 or HomePod 2 units front-to-back with a fourth-generation Apple TV 4K to create a surround sound system, while the system automatically calibrates volume and playback timing based on the speaker placement in the room. Regarding AI capabilities, the new HomePod mini supports Siri AI, though the feature will not be available out of the box and will instead be delivered via a subsequent free software update. Initially, Siri AI will support only English and will roll out in the US, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, and the UK, with the personal context feature requiring the home owner to own and enable an Apple AI-supported iPhone or iPad.