There may be more to the HomePod mini than Apple first let on. The smart speaker features a component that the company has yet to disclose, according to Bloomberg. That component is a sensor made by Texas Instruments for measuring temperature and humidity.
iFixit found the 1.5mm by 1.5mm chip hidden away from the mini’s other components, suggesting it’s not there to measure the device’s internal temperature. Apple has reportedly discussed allowing the sensor to share the data it collects with other HomeKit-enabled devices such as fans and thermostats. That’s something devices like Amazon’s latest Echo smart speakers already do with their built-in temperature sensors. You can use the 2020 Echo to trigger other devices with the help of Alexa routines. Bloomberg suggests Apple could program the HomePod mini to do something similar with HomeKit devices. It could also share the data it collects with thermostats, so you wouldn’t have to buy separate sensors for different rooms to heat and cool your home more efficiently.
Apple could also opt not to enable it at all. It’s not entirely uncommon for devices to include hardware features that are subsequently not called upon for consumer-facing functionality, as product plans change and evolve. FM radio chips in Apple iPhones, for example, never actually got enabled; Sonos included two microphones in its redesigned Play Five speaker back in 2015, only for its strategy to change and the hardware not to be required.
Still, given Apple’s ambitions in the smart home space, and the usefulness of ambient condition sensors, it would seem likely that the HomePod mini’s mystery chip will be activated eventually.
