Sonos has an announcement coming on October 4th, where the company is expected to unveil its first smart speaker. At this point Alexa voice support is most likely, although Sonos states on an Instagram post that it is “actively working” on AirPlay 2 thanks to performance improvements.
Apple announced AirPlay 2 with multi-room support and control from the Home app at WWDC, along with some new social feature for Apple Music and the MusicKit API. AirPlay 2 also comes to Apple TV with tvOS 11.
As the competition for smart speakers is ramping up, Apple is betting on customer loyalty with its closed ecosystem. Apple Music users will want to stick with Siri enabled devices and will likely opt for the upcoming HomePod and devices that will work with AirPlay 2.
