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In the past, it was not easy to designate two HomePods Or two mini HomePods as the default computer speakers for your Mac. Fortunately, Apple rolled out a macOS update (Big Sur 11.3) in 2021 that changed that. It’s not perfect – and we’ll explain why below – but it’s easier and better than ever to turn Apple’s smart speakers into computer speakers.
You can use a HomePod or HomePod mini as a speaker for your Mac, but it’s obviously better if you have a stereo pair. (Reminder: to create a stereo pair, you must have two HomePods of the same model; you cannot stereo pair a first and second generation HomePod, or a HomePod with a HomePod mini.)
To designate a pair of HomePods as Mac speakers, the first thing you need to do is plug the two in, go through the normal setup process, then make sure they’re in the same “room”.
How to stereo pair your HomePods
Once your HomePods are properly set up and set up in the same “room” in the Home app, you can set them up in a stereo pair. Here’s how.
- Open the Home app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Select the “room” where both HomePods are set up.
- Long press any of the HomePod icons.
- Scroll down and tap the gear icon in the lower right corner of your screen.
- Tap “Create Stereo Pair”.
From here, you can select which HomePod you want to use as your left or right channel. If you don’t see the “Create Stereo Pair” option, it likely means your HomePods aren’t updating properly or they’re not in the same “room.”
How to Use Two HomePods as Mac Speakers
Once your two HomePods (or two HomePod minis) are stereo-paired, it’s pretty easy to set them up to be your default Mac speakers. There are two ways to do this:
Option 1:
- Select the sound icon located in your Mac’s menu bar.
- Scroll down and select your stereo paired HomePods.
Option 2:
- Open System Preferences on your Mac.
- Select “Sound” on the side panel.
- Under “Output and Input”, make sure the output is selected.
- Select your stereo-paired HomePods.
why you can Not You want to use HomePods as Mac speakers
Apple has made it much easier to use two HomePods as Mac speakers than in previous years – before the macOS Big Sur 11.3 update it was impossible to set them up as a stereo pair with your Mac – but that’s still not perfect. The biggest problem with using HomePods as Mac speakers is that they can often disconnect from your Mac.
HomePods connect to your Mac via AirPlay, but that connection can be easily interrupted if your Mac goes to sleep or shuts down, if you don’t play any sound for a while (your HomePods will go to sleep), or if you request a song or playlist to your HomePods via Siri.
Fixing this problem is very simple – just select the HomePods via the sound icon in your Mac’s menu bar – but this can be annoying if you think your HomePods are going to play, but instead the audio comes out muffled from your MacBook.
Apple
