Apple is still investigating camera-equipped AirPods, though the camera would serve as infrared sensors, not for taking photos, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
This adds up to previous rumor. In a June 2024 blog post, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a Medium post that Apple plans to mass-produce new AirPods with camera modules by 2026, featuring an IR camera similar to the iPhone Face ID receiver (not the transmitter).
“The new AirPods is expected to be used with Vision Pro and future Apple headsets to enhance the user experience of spatial audio and strengthen the spatial computing ecosystem,” he says. “For example, when a user is watching a video with Vision Pro and wearing this new AirPods, if users turn their heads to look in a specific direction, the sound source in that direction can be emphasized to enhance the spatial audio/computing experience.
Kuo thinks the IR camera will be able to detect environmental image changes, potentially enabling in-air gesture control to enhance human-device interaction.
