Today Apple announced several new items for part of its music platform.

Apple Music

There are new ways to experience music with updates to their Apple Music plans and more.

Headlines are…

• Deeper integration with Siri

• There are new playlists on Apple Music 

• New Apple subscription service Apple Music for $4.99 available in 17 countries later this fall.

• Apple has released a brand-new subscription plan for Apple Music Voice Plan.

  • $4.99 per month.

  • It will be available in 17 countries

  • Everything available only via voice.

HomePod Updates

HomePod mini is now in yellow or orange as well as white and Space Grey and they have added deep integration with Siri. 

Audio Technology

• Full-range driver and dual passive radiators for deep bass and crisp high frequencies

• Custom acoustic waveguide for a 360º sound field

• Acoustically transparent fabric

• Computational audio for real-time tuning

• Four-microphone design for far-field Siri

• Multiroom audio with AirPlay 22

• Stereo pair capable

Audio Sources

• Apple Music (A subscription may be required for music streaming services)

• iTunes music purchases

• iCloud Music Library with an Apple Music or iTunes Match subscription

• Third-party music services (A subscription may be required for music streaming services)

• Apple Music Radio or episodes on demand

• Radio stations from TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and Audacy

• Apple Podcasts

• News briefings

• AirPlay other content to HomePod mini from iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, or Mac

Wireless

• 802.11n Wi-Fi (Peer-to-peer AirPlay requires a Mac (2012 or later) with OS X Yosemite or later, or an iOS or iPadOS device (late 2012 or later) with iOS 8 or later or iPadOS.)

• Direct guest access

• Bluetooth 5.0

• Thread (Not compatible with non-HomeKit Thread devices)

• Ultra Wideband chip for device proximity (Requires a U1-equipped iPhone. Ultra Wideband availability varies by region)

System Requirements

• HomePod mini with the latest version of software

• iPhone SE, iPhone 6s or later, or iPod touch (7th generation) with the latest iOS; or iPad Pro, iPad (5th generation or later), iPad Air 2 or later, or iPad mini 4 or later with the latest iPadOS

• 802.11n Wi-Fi internet access

Price $99

AirPods 3rd Generation with Spatial Audio

Apple have released 3rd Gen AirPods so even more people can enjoy Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos. The new Airpods are sweat and water resistant so you can enjoy audio on the move up to IPX4 rating.

Audio Technology

• Spatial audio with dynamic head tracking1

• Adaptive EQ

• Custom high-excursion Apple driver

• Custom high dynamic range amplifier

• H1 headphone chip

Sensors

• Dual beamforming microphones

• Inward-facing microphone

• Skin-detect sensor

• Motion-detecting accelerometer

• Speech-detecting accelerometer

• Force sensor

• Bluetooth 5.0

Battery

• AirPods

  • Up to 6 hours of listening time with a single charge (up to 5 hours with spatial audio enabled)

  • Up to 4 hours of talk time with a single charge

• AirPods with MagSafe Charging Case

  • Up to 30 hours of listening time

  • Up to 20 hours of talk time

  • 5 minutes in the case provides around 1 hour of listening time or around 1 hour of talk time

System Requirements

• iPhone and iPod touch models with the latest version of iOS

• iPad models with the latest version of iPadOS

• Apple Watch models with the latest version of watchOS

• Mac models with the latest version of macOS

• Apple TV models with the latest version of tvOS

Priced at $179 with ordering possible today and shipping soon.