Apple is reportedly preparing a new way to use four HomePod mini speakers together, with code in the iOS 27 developer beta revealing how the surround sound setup could work with Apple’s wider smart home ecosystem.

There’s another interesting change coming to the HomePod itself. The code points to a new light animation for Siri AI, which could appear when you touch a HomePod while Siri is still processing a request. In other words, it looks like a visual indicator that the speaker is busy handling your request rather than ready to respond.

Unlike the existing Siri animations, these effects are reportedly calculated in real time rather than using pre-rendered frames. Pdfu has even shown a demonstration of the animation, although it’s still unclear exactly when Apple will enable it.

As always with features found in beta code, Apple hasn’t confirmed when any of this will arrive. But with multiple references now appearing in iOS 27, there’s clearly something bigger planned for HomePod.