New HomePod coming in 2023 with new S8 chip and similar audio quality

According to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, a new HomePod is on the way. The journalist claims that Apple is developing a new smart speaker for next year that will look and function similarly to the current model, which was discontinued last year.

Apple will release a new HomePod codenamed B620 that is powered by the future Apple Watch Series 8 chip, the S8 processor. Although Gurman claims in another section of the newsletter that this chip will have the same performance as the 2020 S6 CPU from Apple Watch Series 6, it's unclear how much faster it'll perform than the A8 chip in previous versions of the HomePod. The S5 processor is used in the HomePod mini. The next-generation S6 processor is about 20% quicker than its predecessor.

Gurman said Apple was working on a combination of an Apple TV with HomePod, which might be similar to an Amazon Echo Show — but that doesn't appear to be the case. Although the HomePod mini is a fantastic gadget that users keep buying and connecting to other speakers, the original HomePod provided a greater audio experience that many people are now missing.

It's unclear what the price will be, but Apple will not likely charge more than $300 because to the original model.