British audio equipment maker Bowers & Wilkins is expected to release its first AirPlay 2-enabled receivers in the near future.

bowers wilkins logo
A pair of new Bowers & Wilkins receivers named Formation Audio and Formation Duo are listed as "coming soon" in Apple's recently updated list of HomeKit and ‌AirPlay‌ accessories. Bowers & Wilkins releasing receivers is interesting in itself, as the company is better known for high-fidelity speakers and headphones.

bowers wilkins airplay 2
Bowers & Wilkins has yet to announce the products, but we did find a cached GDPR-related fair processing notice page on its website from December 2018 that mentions a line of Formation products, including the Formation Duo, Formation Audio, Formation Bar, Formation Wedge, and Formation Bass.

‌AirPlay‌ 2 would allow the receivers to work with other ‌AirPlay‌ 2 devices such as the HomePod, the Apple TV, and Sonos speakers. ‌AirPlay‌ 2 receivers also appear in Apple's Home app across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.

Bowers & Wilkins, acquired by Eva Automation in 2016, will join Denon and Marantz, Bluesound, and Naim in offering ‌AirPlay‌ 2 receivers.

Tags: AirPlay, Bowers & Wilkins

Top Rated Comments

SanJoseEd Avatar
SanJoseEd
76 months ago
So can the homepod work with apple tv?
For movies?
Absolutely and quite nice when two are used as a 'stereo pair'. I've never even used them for music - just TV and movies pumped out of an ATV4. There was a break-in period in late Spring last year before the HomePods' latter OS was published, but ever since then, volume's been fine and the 'stereo' output does at times seem to project appropriate noise and sound from the movies' soundtracks making it sound like something more than stereo.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fairuz Avatar
fairuz
76 months ago
AirPlay 2 in receivers is great, but I'd really like a standalone AirPlay 2 device too... like the AirPort Express was for AirPlay 1 and AirTunes. That paired with whatever receivers we had made for a great home music setup as far back as ~2003.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tom.humphrey Avatar
tom.humphrey
76 months ago
I've got a B&W A5 which sounds amazing when the airplay works. Constantly plagued with audio drop outs.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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