Want to see a HomePod mini inside out? Of course you do!

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Apple HomePod Mini Internal Hardware Overlay
Apple HomePod Mini Internal Hardware Overlay (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Someone took a new HomePod mini and decided to see what's on the inside.

Apple's new HomePod mini is the new kid on the block and if there's one recurring theme I've seen when people had theirs arrive, it's that the speaker is way smaller than people expected. The smaller something is on the outside, the smaller all its innards need to be. But just how small?

Turns out, very small.

We see teardowns of new iPhones all the time but someone on the MacRumors forum decided to conduct their own teardown of a newly received HomePod mini. And it makes for some cool photos.

One thing's for certain – it doesn't sound like a fun process!

Homepod Mini Parts

Homepod Mini Parts (Image credit: ouimetnick)

Using tweezers, CAREFULLY peel the microphone ribbon cable off of the sidewall. Lift out the speaker terminal rings. Now flip the HomePod Mini over and remove the 4 rubber screw covers on the bottom side, remove the 4 T6 screws. Bottom comes out (also held together with some moderate strength adhesive like the top half). You can remove the speaker driver by removing the 4 T6 screws (or removing 2, and loosening the other 2) Most of the markings on the NAND flash storage IC aren't readable as some of the markings on the processor

Yeah. I'm glad forum-goer "ouimetnick" did this so I didn't have to! You can see more photos in the thread but be warned – they aren't for the technically squeamish!

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.