Apple has listed third-party speakers and Hi-Fi receivers that will pick up support for AirPlay 2 technology which became available to the general public via today’s iOS and tvOS updates.
Following a few weeks of developer and public beta testing, Apple today released  iOS 11.4 and tvOS 11.4 that launched AirPlay 2 for public consumption following numerous delays.
With AirPlay 2 support, Siri can control music playing on compatible speakers.
Apple’s HomeKit website at apple.com/ios/home/accessories was refreshed today with a new section dedicated to all of the available accessories and smart home products that offer HomeKit support. It also lists all of the upcoming speakers and receivers by third-party vendors that’ll receive AirPlay 2 support via a firmware update.
The following products have announced upcoming AirPlay 2 support:
- Apple HomePod
- Beoplay A6
- Beoplay A9 mk2
- Beoplay M3
- BeoSound 1
- BeoSound 2
- BeoSound 35
- BeoSound Core
- BeoSound Essence mk2
- BeoVision Eclipse (audio only)
- Denon AVR-X3500H
- Denon AVR-X4500H
- Denon AVR-X6500H
- Libratone Zipp
- Libratone Zipp Mini
- Marantz AV7705
- Marantz NA6006
- Marantz NR1509
- Marantz NR1609
- Marantz SR5013
- Marantz SR6013
- Marantz SR7013
- Naim Mu-so
- Naim Mu-so QB
- Naim ND 555
- Naim ND5 XS 2
- Naim NDX 2
- Naim Uniti Nova
- Naim Uniti Atom
- Naim Uniti Star
- Sonos One
- Sonos Play:5
- Sonos Playbase
More companies are likely to announce AirPlay 2 compatibility in the future.
What Apple did not release today: Airport Express firmware update to support Airplay 2 https://t.co/mG9aK6NKbO
— iDownloadBlog (@iDownloadBlog) May 29, 2018
From Apple’s press release today:
AirPlay 2 enables the most advanced, wireless multi-room audio system, creating an effortless way for people to stream music or podcasts anywhere in the home to different devices, all in-sync.
While listening to music, it’s as easy as selecting or unselecting where the music is playing in Control Center or users can ask Siri to play music in any room, a group of rooms or everywhere in the home. For HomePod, AirPlay 2 features are automatically supported and music can be streamed around the house without the need to manually group speakers.
AirPlay 2 controls are available across iOS within any app and in Control Center for quick access to what’s playing in every room, on every speaker. Apple Music subscribers can also ask Siri to play different songs in different rooms or the same song everywhere, without ever leaving the room.
Just like iPhone and iPad, HomePod will be able to communicate with other AirPlay 2-enabled speakers when they become available, so Siri can control music playing on speakers from Bang & Olufsen, Bluesound, Bose, Bowers & Wilkins, Denon, Libratone, Marantz, Marshall, Naim, Pioneer and Sonos.
To learn more about AirPlay 2, visit Apple’s website.
Apple at last year’s WWDC did name a handful of speaker makers that will be adding AirPlay 2 support to their products, like Bang & Olufsen, Denon, Marantz and Naim, but this is a much more comprehensive list.
Watch our video walkthrough covering everything there’s to know about AirPlay 2 for HomePod, iPhone, iPad Apple TV and more, including how it works, what it is and what it isn’t.
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Smart speaker vendor Sonos is holding an event next week where we will hopefully learn when, and if for that matter they plan on implementing support for AirPlay 2 across its One, Play:5 and Playbase products. Sonos previously promised to support AirPlay 2 later this year.
Rival Bose is holding an event on June 20 to announce new speakers.
HomePod supports AirPlay 2, too, with the new software.
You don’t even need to own a wireless speaker that supports AirPlay 2 out of the box in order to reap the benefits of the peer-to-peer content streaming technology. If you own a fourth-generation Apple TV or Apple TV 4K with the latest tvOS 11.4 software, any speakers connected to the set-top box become AirPlay targets.
A future Beats speaker should support AirPlay 2 out of the box.