AirPods With Cameras Could Be Released This Year

Apple’s camera-equipped AirPods could be released before the end of 2026, earlier than previously expected.

According to Apple insider Mark Gurman’s most recent Power On newsletter, published in Bloomberg, the new AirPods are already referenced in the iOS 27 code. iOS 27 is expected to launch in September.

According to Gurman, Apple has been working on the camera AirPods, which are codenamed B798, for years. That version is slated for release in 2027.

However, Apple likes to create competing versions of the same product internally. So another version of the AirPods, codenamed B790, is now closer to release than B798.

As for the name, Mashable notes a rumor that suggests the new device will be called the AirPods Pro Ultra.

What Will Camera-Equipped AirPods Do?

Taking a photo from someone’s ear is not what anyone wants — and that’s not what these new AirPods will do. Instead of recording photos or videos, the AirPods will capture low-resolution images of the world around the user, powering contextual artificial intelligence via Siri. A small LED light will flash, indicating that the cameras are in operation, similar to smart glasses.

Speaking of smart glasses, Gurman says Apple is working on its planned smart spectacles to become health and fitness assistants. Similar to the upcoming AirPods, the glasses’ camera will be able to record data, potentially on the users’ movements, to provide health data.

Last week, PetaPixel reported on how Apple is trying to avoid gaining the increasingly bad reputation attached to Meta’s smart glasses.

One option that Apple is reportedly mulling over is to sell smart glasses without a camera — users could still access features such as hands-free phone calls and listening to audio. Another option is to release the glasses with a camera that doesn’t record photos or video; the camera would still see the world, but only for the purposes of feeding that data to AI tools, helping the user navigate their environment. This is similar to camera-equipped AirPods rumored to launch soon.

“Apple also is likely to avoid something akin to Meta’s proposed ‘super-sensing’ mode, which can continuously analyze a wearer’s surroundings, and will steer clear of using customer recordings to train AI models,” Gurman noted.

Image creditsHeader photo licensed via Depositphotos.