It's not the first smart speaker, nor the tallest, nor the most compact. But it's certainly the Apple-est.

Still, it keeps the basically cylindrical form factor typical of 360° smart speakers.

Perhaps the most apparent difference is that, unlike the Amazon Echo and Google Home, the HomePod packs an integrated power supply with a non-removable power cable. Update: Turns out it's removable if you pull hard enough.

No unsightly wall-wart transformer and Apple very well hid the fact that the cable is removable. (Or at least, it fooled us!) It does have a cool braided cord cover though.