HomePod mini not suitable as a Mac speaker
If you have been walking around the Apple landscape for a while, you probably still know the transparent speakers that Apple once included iMac delivered. This one Apple Pro speakers were round balls that were connected with a cable to the iMac G4, a desktop computer that itself is also called ‘bubble’. They were made by Harman Kardon, which is now part of Samsung. The HomePod minis deliver great sound and it would be useful if you could use them as a stereo pair on your desk, connected to your MacBook. But that is impossible.
The iMac G4 met Apple Pro-speakers.
From HomePod mini would actually be fine as a desk speaker. They cost 94 euros each (via Apple in Germany) and for less than two hundred euros you have a speaker set of excellent quality for an immersive YouTube experience in between work. Or for those who want to: watch a complete movie from behind your desk.
This would be ideal: two HomePod minis next to your MacBook.
There will be plenty of people who already had it all in their heads. The HomePod minis are small and on a black or white desk you can make the speakers extra discreet by choosing the same color. It cannot be done alone. When playing music from iTunes, the Music and TV app, you can choose the stereo pair, but that’s all. It will not work in most other apps. You can then only stream to one speaker.
The Music and TV app is suitable for two HomePods, but with a YouTube video Safari it can’t look.
You cannot edit the audio from the menu bar of the Mac forward to multiple speakers, even if the one HomePod-stereopaar is. That was already the case with the large HomePod, which because of its price and size was not as suitable as a stereo speaker on your desk. But the HomePod minis that are so reminiscent of the transparent speaker balls of the past, should be suitable for me. It works for a handful of your own apps, with the rest you can only stream to one speaker, but not to two at the same time.
From the Macmenu bar, you can only stream to one speaker at a time.
Is is a workaround, but it is cumbersome and also has limitations. For example, you can only adjust the sound volume by adding the HomePod to tap. You can’t adjust the volume from the Mac’s menu bar. Also, the Music app must always be open and you have to deal with a delay because the AirPlay 1 is – not nice when you are watching a movie.
If you also have plans to connect the HomePods to the TV, there are also limitations. You can only connect them via a Apple TV and it only works well if you do everything through the Apple TV regulates and, for example, does not look through the cable. Furthermore, you cannot include the HomePods as speakers in a 5.1 setup. If you want to do all of this, you’re really better off with Sonos-speakers.
