Sonos release more information on their upcoming AirPlay 2 integration

Today, we’re confirming that newer Sonos speakers like Play:5, Playbase and Sonos One will support AirPlay 2, as will future Sonos products. When you group one of these Airplay-enabled speakers with older Sonos devices, you can bring AirPlay capabilities to your entire Sonos system.

The good news is that AirPlay 2 is:
A) Still a thing
B) Something Sonos are still working on integrating

The bad news; just like we feared thought, its integration will only be for Sonos’ latest products that we’ve seen released over the past 18 months.

We also, still, have no idea when AirPlay 2 support will be coming. The blog post update from the speaker manufacturer offers many details of what we can expect but remains obtuse on any delivery dates. Potentially at the behest of their partner in crime; Apple.

Essentially the information to come out lets us know that you will 100% need a newer model Sonos speaker to use the functionality. You will only need a single one however and can then use that to have others in your system “group” with it.

Apple Music will also be integrated into the implementation also, however you’ll need to speak to Siri on your phone, computer or HomePod and command her to play Apple Music on your Sonos speakers. The problem with this is of course Siri understanding and doing anything you say to her.

The remainder of the post is dedicated to explaining why your fancy, multi-thousand Sonos setup is a dumpster fire and too pathetic to run the more intensive requirements of the new software implemented AirPlay 2.

Source: An Update on Sonos Speaker Support For AirPlay 2 | Sonos Blog