You’re in an aisle of a bookshop, airport store, or supermarket and have your hands full. You don’t bring out your phone; you glance at something and ask Siri to remember it.
That is the kind of interaction Apple may be preparing for its next generation of AirPods.
Unreleased AirPods with a camera appear to be employing a technology called Visual Intelligence in a demo movie in the macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate, according to The Verge. The clip shows someone wearing the glasses looking at a book while Siri says visual information can be saved for later.
That would push AirPods well beyond music, calls, and noise cancellation.
Apple (AAPL) currently sells AirPods Pro 3 starting at $249, according to the company, as Mashable reported. The leaked model hasn’t been officially revealed, and Apple hasn’t mentioned pricing, so investors shouldn’t assume the camera-equipped version will be the same price.
Still, $249 is a useful baseline for what millions of people already accept as the price of a premium Apple accessory.
The more important question is whether people pay more for headphones that could actually work as a second pair of eyes for Siri.
Apple may be turning AirPods into an AI interface
Reports say the cameras aren’t really for snapping images.
Rather, they seem intended to provide visual information to Siri and Apple’s artificial intelligence algorithms so the assistant knows what the user is looking at. This may lead to more natural encounters later.
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A traveler might inquire about a sign without pulling out a phone. A shopper may tell Siri to recall a product. A blind user could be presented with extensive descriptions of the environment.
Those use cases are still a bit speculative, since Apple has not launched the product. But the leaked demo gives investors a better feel for what Apple is trying out: AI that understands the real world without forcing the user to look at a screen.
That is important, since AirPods are already in a highly coveted spot. They are worn on the body and already include microphones. Plus, users keep them in for hours.
Apple says the AirPods Pro 3 now offer up to eight hours of listening time with active noise cancellation, plus heart-rate tracking and hearing-health capabilities.
Adding visual intelligence would move the product from “headphones” to wearable computers.
Human appeal of camera-equipped AirPods creates privacy problem
The promise is convenience.
The worry is that a camera in an earbud is much less noticeable to other people than a phone held up or smart glasses on someone’s face.
That might present a difficult trade-off for Apple.
Although The Verge observed that the leaked design doesn’t reveal whether there’s any kind of recording indicator, it pointed out that the cameras seem designed for low-res visual context rather than photography.
Apple has made privacy a big part of its brand, and the company would certainly face issues about when the cameras are on, what data is saved, and if passersby can detect whether the system is interpreting the environment.
That may be as important as the gear.
While consumers may adore the concept of asking Siri what they’re seeing, they might feel quite differently about everyone around them wearing invisible cameras.
What consumers should know
- $249: Current starting price of AirPods Pro 3.
- Up to 8 hours: AirPods Pro 3 listening time with active noise cancellation.
- Visual intelligence: Feature shown in the leaked camera-AirPods demo.
- September: Reports suggest Apple could potentially unveil the product as early as its fall hardware event, though Apple has not confirmed that timing.
It’s easy to miss the bigger picture.
Apple doesn’t need to replace the iPhone with AirPods with cameras. It just needs to limit the number of times users have to take the iPhone out.
That’s a whole different product ambition.
The iPhone put a computer in your pocket. Now Apple may be studying whether AirPods could literally put AI in front of your eyes without putting another screen in your face.
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