Airplay 2 Support

As far as I can tell, the whole thing is still under development, so we don’t know whether or not you would be required to have one newer device to get the signal in to the Sonos ecosystem in some way, or whether all devices have the necessary WiFi cards that will accept the signal. Rather than jumping to conclusions, which we all tend to do, why don’t we wait for development to finish, and Sonos to announce how it works? I’m certain they would be doing everything possible to make it work with as many devices as possible.

It seems Sonos has said the entire current range and even older models will work with Airplay 2. I'd google around on that to see the sources.

It seems Sonos has said the entire current range and even older models will work with Airplay 2. I'd google around on that to see the sources. Let's hope so. I just ordered another Play:1 Would be a shame if it is only supported on the newer devices.

I am going to assume if you have one Sonos device hat is capable you can group any other Sonos unit to that one to get the signal. Ie if you have a play:5 gen2 you can play from iOS tonthat speaker then group in any other speakers you want to play the same music. But you have to have the play:5 playing that stream. Kind of like with playbar you can play tv sound to any speaker in the house as long as the playbar is playing tv.

The make or break element of this chris will be whether you have to leave the airplay controller on your iOS device to do the grouping. If you airplay from iOS then group in SONOS app, it’s a very poor user experience. If however one device acts as the hub for all other speakers, perfect.

We live in hope...

I am not sure but what I understood from Apple side it is that Airplay2 on iOS will have the same functionalities than Airplay from iTunes application on your Mac. Which means you ould group different speakers.

Now if iOS will let you do that from your iPhone and use directly for instance iOS Apple Music application, then there will be no need anymore of Sonos app. An end that I am not sure Sonos will agree with.

Reading http://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/17/06/06/airplay-2-on-existing-speakers-requires-firmware-update-raising-questions-for-apples-airport-express

It seems that Airplay2 will need a firmware update or new hardware to get a full compatibility. Also, regarding the speaker manufacturer, some will provide an update others won't.
The question now is where Sonos will stand?

"Unlike the original AirPlay, AirPlay 2 doesn't require special hardware anymore, but is entirely software-based, which allows for companies like Sonos to add support to their devices after the fact."

https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/4/16418944/sonos-airplay-2-support-apple-ios-siri-2018

Special hardware means something quite different from a minimum hardware requirement. It just may be that the Apple requirements are such that the processors in the older Sonos devices cannot keep up.

Additionally, there could be some sort of memory constraint on older hardware. Sonos might not be able to add the necessary code to older devices that could interpret the airplay 2 signal. I've no idea how tight they are, but it's a possibility that their memory is maxed out already, with all the other changes to the Sonos controller and music sources.

...

Wto the original poster: it seems it’s scenario (ii) since, apparently it’s settled that AirPlay 2 is only for the newer touch control products: One, Play:5 (2nd Gen) and Playbase.

The remainder old products can be coupled with these new ones, but that means they will not be independently available as AirPlay speakers not available on the Home app.

Even the Airport Express from 2012 seems to be supported (judging from the reports on the latest iOS Betas), so it would be interesting to know if it’s actually a technical limitation or just a strategic decision by Sonos.

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/4/25/17283114/sonos-apple-airplay-2-support-details#comments