Apple's iPhone 17 event came and went with no mention of the rumored HomePod 3 or even a HomePod mini 2. Instead, the company is pushing out a software update next week (as per 9to5Mac) that'll bring some new features to its existing smart speakers.
The HomePod 26 software update will land alongside Apple's other OS updates on September 26 for both the regular HomePod 2 and the HomePod mini. We should see some expansion to voice controls for multi-room audio and the ability to use Crossfade.
Crossfade can already be found within Apple Music and lets you add a smooth transition from one song to the next. You can set your preferred fade duration to between one and 12 seconds. Once the update has been installed, you'll find the option to add Crossfade within the Home app. Just go to Home Settings > People > [You] > Apple Music > Crossfade to toggle on the feature and alter the duration.
When it comes to multi-room audio, Apple is expanding voice controls for multi-room audio beyond just Apple Music. You can already ask Siri to do things like "play music in the living room" or "play music everywhere", but now you'll be able to request that with any AirPlay stream on the HomePod. If you prefer one of the other best music streaming services to Apple's own service, you can ask Siri to play it in whichever room you want. Handy if you're planning to start using Spotify now that lossless audio is coming down the pipe.
Sadly, this update doesn't bring all of Apple's audio wizardry to its ageing smart speakers. Apple's AutoMix feature — which creates DJ-like transitions between songs by mixing the tracks together — is conspicuously absent. Even though it's coming in iOS 26, we won't see it on HomePod.
That leaves us, still, wondering when we'll likely get to see the HomePod 3 unveiled. Rumors suggested it would come along in the third quarter of 2025, but it's highly likely Apple is holding the device back until it can perfect the new AI-powered version of Siri that will be a central part of its next speaker.
Until then, we'll have to console ourselves with the fact that the HomePod 2 is still one of the best smart speakers you can buy, despite being nearly three years old.
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