Apple unveils the $99 HomePod mini smart speaker, coming next month

The follow-up to Apple's $300 HomePod has finally arrived, with the smaller, spherical HomePod mini, complete with onboard Siri and a new "intercom" feature. The new smart speaker is slated to arrive next month. Unveiled alongside the iPhone 12 during Apple's "Hi, Speed" event on Tuesday, the $99 HomePod mini (pre-orders begin November 6 for shipping on November 16) takes a page from Amazon's revamped Echo speakers (or is it the other way around?) with a ball-shaped, fabric-covered industrial design. Set to arrive in white and space gray flavors, the HomePod mini has a backlit touchpad on top with integrated volume and playback controls. The new HomePod mini comes equipped with a full-range driver and dual passive radiators, while the speaker itself is powered by Apple's S5 chip. Inside the 3.3-inch shell is a full-range, neodymium magnet-powered dynamic driver, a pair of force-cancelling passive radiators, and an acoustic wave guide at the bottom that's designed to deliver 360-degree sound.