Apple Leak Reveals Camera-Equipped AirPods
Apple may be preparing to give AirPods a new way to interact with the world around you. A recent leak found inside Apple’s own software shows what appear to be camera-equipped AirPods working with Visual Intelligence, giving us one of the clearest looks yet at the rumored earbuds.
The leak comes from the macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate, where references to an unreleased AirPods project were found alongside a short video. In the clip, a person wearing AirPods holds up a book while a voice explains that Visual Intelligence can recognize something the wearer sees and save it for later.
Why put cameras in AirPods?
The cameras do not appear to be designed mainly for taking photos or recording video. Instead, they could act as sensors that help Visual Intelligence understand what is around the wearer.
That could open the door to several hands-free uses. Someone could potentially look at a product and ask for information about it, identify an object, save the name of a book, or ask Siri a question about something nearby.
Other details hidden in the software make the feature look further along than a simple experiment. One message reportedly warns users when the AirPods may be covered, explaining that the earbuds need a clear view to provide accurate information about the surrounding environment.
The unreleased earbuds are associated with the internal codename B790. In the leaked demonstration, they do not look dramatically different from current AirPods models. This suggests Apple may be trying to add the camera hardware without completely changing the familiar design.
Apple has yet to officially announce camera-equipped AirPods, so plenty could change before they reach consumers. Still, finding the technology demonstrated inside Apple’s own software makes this one AirPods rumor that is becoming increasingly difficult to dismiss.
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