Apple Accidentally Reveals AirPods With Built-In Cameras in macOS Update
Apple appears to have accidentally (or accidentally-on-purpose?) revealed camera-equipped AirPods through a short video found in the macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate.
The clip depicts a person wearing AirPods, looking at a book, and speaking with Siri. The wearer appears to ask Siri to recognize or save information about something in view. An offscreen voice then shares that something called “Visual Intelligence” can help wearers remember things around them, like books, products, and landmarks.
In May, Bloomberg’s Apple reporter, Mark Gurman, learned that Apple was working on camera-equipped AirPods and that the earbuds had just entered late testing. These AirPods, dubbed “AirPods Ultra,” are thought to contain tiny cameras or optical sensors in the stems, allowing them to send visual information to an iPhone or other Apple device for analysis.
This latest video doesn’t prove that the AirPods record continuously, nor does it promise that the company will release the product in the first place. References to camera-equipped AirPods and image-stream features were found in Apple’s pre-release code, but not all tested products make it to market. That said, insiders believe that if the AirPods Ultra are released, it’ll happen later this year or in 2027.
