Apple’s camera-equipped AirPods just leaked, and now we know what they’ll actually do

Rumors over the past couple of years have indicated that Apple is working on a version of the AirPods with built-in cameras. Then, in May, these AI-powered earbuds reached a new company milestone, suggesting a launch wasn’t far away. We’re now gaining additional information about what these AirPods can do, while also potentially getting our first look at the earbuds themselves.

A video file spotted within the latest macOS Tahoe 26.7 RC (release candidate) by MacRumors analyst Aaron Perris on X shows a person wearing what appears to be an AirPods model holding a book up to their face. The voiceover in the background says, “With Visual Intelligence, your world becomes savable. See something you like? Just ask me to save it for later.”

Visual Intelligence is a part of the company’s suite of built-in AI features, known as Apple Intelligence. It works similarly to Google’s Gemini Live and can view your surroundings and answer specific questions based on what it’s seeing.

As for the AirPods model prominently displayed in the video above, they don’t look dissimilar to any of the existing AirPods models, though the stem appears slightly thicker. It’s hard to tell from this brief video alone whether these are indeed the new camera-toting AirPods.

The cameras on the upcoming AirPods aren’t meant to capture photos or videos. Instead, Apple will use them strictly to capture your surroundings and send them to Apple Intelligence to process and answer your questions via Siri.

What could this mean for the rest of the tech industry?

It’s no secret that Apple adopting a particular technology typically leads other manufacturers to follow suit. So we shouldn’t be surprised if some popular OEMs reveal earbuds featuring a similar camera arrangement over the next couple of years. This also means we can’t rule out major brands like Samsung releasing a pair of Galaxy Buds with built-in cameras sometime in the future.

Apple is expected to unveil the new AirPods with cameras, codenamed B790, as early as next month during the company’s iPhone launch event. Also on the agenda will be Apple’s first-ever foldable, dubbed the iPhone Ultra, which is expected to offer a similar display and aspect ratio as the Galaxy Z Fold 8.