Apple's HomePod 2 is now here, and the early reviews are in. And while some people are interested in hearing how the smart speaker sounds and whether it improved on the original, we already know one key characteristic.
It turns out that the new HomePod is just as good at leaving white rings on wooden surfaces as the old one.
Thankfully, it does sound like things aren't quite as bad as they used to be.
HomePod halo
The HomePod halo was a thing way back in 2018 and wasn't only a HomePod phenomenon. The Sonos One suffered from a similar issue, and both speakers left white marks on some wooden surfaces after being left for a while.
Things got so bad at one point that one company even made a little doily to sit the HomePod on.
Apple's support document said that the "marks can be caused by oils diffusing between the silicone base and the table surface, and will often go away after several days when the speaker is removed from the wooden surface."
That wasn't always the case, unfortunately, but it was seen as unavoidable given the rubber base of the HomePod. So how does the new HomePod fare?
YouTuber MKBHD did the science to find out and, as it turns out, the new model can still leave a nasty ring on a table if left to its own devices — you're still going to want that daily.
The good news is that it sounds like the new HomePod doesn't leave quite the same lasting impact as the old one, so that's good.
In a later update, Marques went on to say that after testing out a couple of HomePods again, he found that the ring faded over time and suggested that actually cleaning the bottom of the device could help out the issue.
Final Honepod rings update pic.twitter.com/H1iVLkhlCIFebruary 1, 2023
HomePod halo or not, this is still probably the best Bluetooth speaker for many people, even if it doesn't technically support Bluetooth. Still, who doesn't love AirPlay 2, right?
The HomePod 2 is now available for pre-order and goes on sale officially on February 2 for $299.
