Apple is a tech brand known for making phones, laptops, watches, and tablets, though they've also made some speakers. Generally, their speakers have built-in Siri capabilities, making them suitable for home use. We've tested two Apple speakers: the Apple HomePod and the Apple HomePod mini. However, since the Apple HomePod has been discontinued, the manufacturer currently only has the Apple HomePod mini on the market.
The Apple HomePod mini is currently Apple's only speaker on the market since they discontinued the original Apple HomePod. This small spherical smart speaker comes with Siri built-in and is designed for use at home. You can activate Siri with your voice, and it can register your commands from far away or in noisier rooms. Its mid-range is balanced, so vocals and lead instruments sound clear and present in the mix, making this speaker good for dialogue-heavy audio content like audiobooks and podcasts. However, higher-pitched voices and instruments sound dull at times. Thanks to its 360-degree design, it has fantastic directivity, resulting in a wide and spacious-sounding soundstage. You can use its Apple Home App to pair it with another compatible speaker to create a stereo pair. Also, you can use it to connect to multiple other speakers when you want your audio to fill a large room without increasing its volume.
Like most speakers its size, it lacks thump in the low-bass range, and there isn't a graphic EQ or presets to customize its sound to your liking. Also, while it supports Bluetooth, it's only for audio handoff, which lets you transfer your music from your phone to the speaker by tapping your iPhone atop the speaker, so you can't pair your audio source to the speaker via Bluetooth. That said, while it doesn't get very loud, it's still loud enough to use in a small bedroom or on your desk. There's also little compression at max volume, so your audio remains clean and clear-sounding when you max out its volume.
Apple speakers are designed for home use, with a wired design and built-in Siri voice assistant. However, they don't come with an EQ and are hard to pair with devices over Bluetooth.
Oct 14, 2022: Removed the Apple HomePod from the Notable Mentions and made small adjustments to overall text for accuracy.
Jun 16, 2022: Minor updates to text for consistency.
Feb 17, 2022: Verified product availability, and updated text for clarity.
Oct 20, 2021: Moved the Apple HomePod to the Notable Mentions since it's been discontinued. Updated the text for consistency.
Jun 22, 2021: Verified text accuracy and product availability. There have been no changes in our recommendations.
Apple speakers generally have a Siri voice assistant built-in and need to be plugged into a power source to use them. They're compatible with Apple AirPlay for streaming audio content from an iPhone, but you can't easily pair them with devices via Bluetooth. Typically, they're not water or impact-resistant since they're designed for home use.