Goolman said that full-size HomePod will return this year: with S8 chip to enable a new touch panel, the price will be more friendly to the people.

CTOnews.com January 9, Bloomberg Mark Mark Gurman said in the latest Power On newsletter that Apple will launch a larger HomePod this year. The new HomePod will be equipped with a new touch panel at the top, using the S8 chip used in Apple Watch, and will be more user-friendly in price.

"the larger HomePod will definitely return this year," Gurman wrote in his newsletter. He believes that the size of the HomePod should be similar to that of the original HomePod, with a height of about 6.8in. However, Gurman also made it clear that the new HomePod will not be updated much, but will use the S8 chip to improve the touchpad panel.

CTOnews.com learned that Gurman had previously reported that Apple's next full-size HomePod might add multi-touch, although it did not share further details, but hinted that the new model would have a "model design similar to 2018."

Guo Mingyi also said in May last year that a new HomePod was being developed within Apple. The code for Apple's first beta version of iOS 16 developers mentions an unreleased model called "AudioAccessory6", which seems to confirm that a new version of Siri smart speakers is under development.