Apple’s rumoured camera-equipped AirPods have received their clearest indication of an imminent launch yet, with a short demo video discovered in the latest macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate. The video appears to demonstrate how the earbuds could use their cameras with Apple’s Visual Intelligence features, potentially allowing Siri to understand what the wearer is looking at.
The clip, discovered by MacRumors, shows a man wearing what appear to be AirPods while looking at a book. Siri’s voice-over says, “With Visual Intelligence, your world becomes savable. See something you like? Just ask me to save it for later,” suggesting that the earbuds could recognise objects and save information about them without requiring the user to pull out an iPhone.
The AirPods shown in the video look broadly similar to the current AirPods Pro, although their stems appear to be somewhat thicker. However, the cameras themselves are not visible in the footage.
The discovery follows a separate finding in macOS Tahoe 26.7 RC, where MacRumors spotted references to an unreleased Apple device carrying the B790 codename, alongside code relating to an “image stream”. This is particularly notable because Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported earlier this month that Apple is developing a camera-equipped AirPods model under this codename, with a launch potentially coming as early as this year.
This latest discovery follows earlier reports in May that prototypes of the upcoming camera-equipped AirPods had already entered the design validation testing stage, putting the product just a couple of steps away from mass production. At the time, Bloomberg said that the earbuds would resemble the AirPods Pro, with longer stems to accommodate the camera hardware.
The cameras are not expected to function like conventional cameras for taking photos or recording videos. Instead, they are reportedly intended to provide Siri with visual information about the wearer’s surroundings, enabling features such as identifying objects, providing contextual information and potentially offering navigation guidance based on visible landmarks.
As mentioned earlier, Gurman published a follow-up report this month suggesting that the B790 model had already appeared in iOS 27, further indicating that Apple could be preparing the device for a relatively near-term launch. The model is reportedly further along in development than another camera-equipped AirPods project, codenamed B798, which is now expected to arrive in 2027.
With Apple now apparently including an actual demonstration of the technology in macOS, a September announcement alongside its next-generation iPhone lineup is looking increasingly plausible. Needless to say, we’ll only learn more when the time comes, but it will also be interesting to see how Apple addresses the privacy implications of putting cameras on a pair of AirPods.
(Source: MacRumors)
