We’re just a day away from Apple’s “Hi, Speed” event where the company is expected to announce new iPhones and a HomePod mini. Earlier this week, a leak popped up suggesting the HomePod mini will sport Apple’s proprietary U1 chip. Today, a new leak details how that chip will be used in the device.
Hit-and-miss leaker Jon Prosser has emerged with new information detailing the scope of the Ultra-Wide Band chip that Apple’s expected to include in its upcoming HomePod mini. He says that the HomePod mini will “precisely track your location while you’re in your house.” You will also be able to use it for “media controls, brightness/volume control, & door locks.”
According to AppleTrack, his track record is 74.5% accurate, which has earned him the 10th spot on the top leakers leaderboard that AppleTrack hosts.
He also states that with the help of the U1 chip in the upcoming HomePod and seemingly, a new “Apple TV,” you can turn regular hardware into HomeKit hardware.
Another feature, that we think is really slick, that Jon Prosser says the HomePod mini could have is the ability to precisely locate your devices within the house. The U1 chips in your devices (currently iPhone 11 and later, Apple Watch Series 6) including the upcoming HomePod mini and Apple TV will supposedly communicate with each other to identify their precise location, which will enable you to use the Find My app to alert you “if any of your devices have been moved within or taken from your home,” according to Prosser. Moreover, he also suggests ultra-wideband on the HomePod mini and the Apple TV will open up a world of AR capabilities in the Find My app within your home.
Ultra-wideband is a low-energy, short-range radio technology to establish high-bandwidth communications over a large portion of the radio band. Apple has implemented the tech in its devices through a proprietary chip that it has named U1.
The U1 chip is included in the iPhone 11 lineup and the Apple Watch Series 6 so far. It will be interesting to see Apple include this in more products going forward and equally interesting to experience its applications. The HomePod mini seems to only be the beginning of what’s to ensue.
Apart from that, Jon Prosser also suggested, in a reply to a query pertaining to the release date of the next Apple TV, that they aren’t coming this Tuesday; which is when the “Hi, Speed” iPhone event is scheduled for.
As for the upcoming HomePod mini, it’s rumored to stand 3.3-inches tall, have a reduced number of tweeters, and feature an S5 chip. The rumored $99 price tag, furthermore, is expected to propel the HomePod mini into the world of competing smart speakers. But the HomePod mini will have to prove its worth by sounding almost, if not equally, as good as the original HomePod.
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