Camera AirPods: Apple Confirms Its Next AI Wearable

Apple has just leaked its own product. Inside the Release Candidate build of macOS Tahoe 26.7, seeded on Monday 17 August 2026, MacRumors unearthed a full promotional video for a pair of unannounced camera AirPods. In it, a user holds up a book so the earbuds can read its title. These camera-equipped AirPods are no longer a supply-chain whisper: the product exists, it has been filmed, and it looks ready to ship.

A second file in the same build then revealed a major clue about the commercial name. Here is what we know, what remains uncertain, and what it actually means for you.

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What the video hidden in macOS 26.7 actually shows

The clip found in the Release Candidate is short but unambiguous. A man holds a book in front of his face. The camera housed in the earbuds identifies the cover, and the voiceover explains that Visual Intelligence lets you save what you see so you can return to it later. In other words, the lens is not there to take photographs: it acts as a sensor feeding Apple’s artificial intelligence.

Visual Intelligence is the Apple Intelligence component that analyses a scene and returns contextual information. Until now it required pulling out your iPhone and pointing it. With earbuds carrying infrared sensors, the same feature becomes permanent and hands-free.

The software even includes a practical safeguard: if your hair covers the earbuds, an alert asks you to clear them so the system can return accurate information about your surroundings. A small detail, but one that betrays a product already deep into software polish.

AirPods Pro rather than AirPods Ultra: the clue that changes the price question

The following day, 18 August, MacRumors spotted a second element: in macOS Tahoe 26.7, the file referencing the new earbuds is labelled AirPods Pro, not AirPods Ultra.

That is far from trivial. Back in March, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple was considering extending the Ultra branding to several devices, including a foldable iPhone, an OLED MacBook and, indeed, AirPods. Observers drew a simple conclusion: an Ultra name signalled a price well above the 249 dollars of the current AirPods Pro 3.

If Apple settles on the Pro line instead, the implicit message is reassuring for your wallet: the gap with the current model should not be dramatic. A word of caution, though, since it could still be a placeholder. That said, Apple embedded a complete product video in the operating system, which makes the placeholder theory much harder to defend.

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B790 and B798: why the timeline shifted twice

The story is muddied by two prototypes running in parallel, a well-known Apple habit of pitting several internal versions of the same product against each other.

B798: the model discussed historically. In June 2026, Mark Gurman reported it had slipped to September 2027, alongside the twentieth anniversary iPhone, because of difficulties with the Siri overhaul.
B790: the model revealed in early August by the same reporter, further along than the first and potentially arriving as soon as September 2026.

It is this second device that now appears in the macOS 26.7 code. The technical differences between the two remain unknown, but the calendar has clearly tightened: these camera AirPods could be unveiled at the September iPhone keynote.

More than ten unannounced Apple products in the same update

The AirPods are not alone. According to contributor Aaron Perris, the macOS Tahoe 26.7 code references more than ten unreleased devices:

AirPods with infrared cameras for Visual Intelligence;
the long-rumoured foldable iPhone;
an all-new Apple smart home hub;
the first MacBook and iPad mini models with OLED displays;
an updated Siri Remote for a next-generation Apple TV;
unreleased AirPods 5 models.

The technical explanation is straightforward: macOS 26.7 will be one of the final macOS Tahoe updates. Apple is adding support for upcoming devices for users who do not immediately move to macOS Golden Gate. The side effect is that a good chunk of the hardware roadmap is now public ahead of schedule.

What it means for you, and the privacy question

On paper the appeal is real. An assistant that can hear your request and see what you are looking at could translate a sign, identify a product on a shelf, remember a book title or answer a question about your immediate surroundings, without ever taking your phone out. That is exactly the territory Meta’s smart glasses and a wave of AI-native hardware start-ups are chasing.

One sensitive point remains, and it is not a footnote. Camera earbuds raise a genuine consent problem: the people around you will not necessarily realise a visual sensor is sitting in your ear. Reactions since the discovery have been split between technical curiosity and outright discomfort. Apple will need to get the indicator lights, activity signals and privacy controls right, or face immediate rejection, particularly in Europe.

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Wait or buy now?

If you need earbuds today, the AirPods Pro 3 remain a safe bet: active noise cancellation, spatial audio, heart rate detection and USB-C charging. If the idea of an assistant that can see your environment appeals to you, waiting for the September keynote looks reasonable.

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The bottom line

The camera AirPods are no longer speculation: Apple itself leaked a product video in macOS Tahoe 26.7, with a name pointing to the Pro line and a launch possible as soon as September 2026. The ambition is clear, the privacy question wide open. Would you wear camera-equipped earbuds every day? Tell us in the comments, and follow all our Apple coverage on Wanda-techs.com.