Apple's Camera-Equipped AirPods Confirmed: See Them in Action

[Sill]

It’s not a tired argument, it’s actually been decided in court. Anyone can be filmed on the street or in a public place. That does not mean harassment, and sticking a camera in someone’s face.

It's never been litigated using my argument. At some point it will be.

 

[Sill]

Maybe I’m starting to get old now, and I’m losing the unbridled enthusiasm for tech I’ve had since the 80s.

That's where I've found myself. A decade ago, maybe even five years ago, I would have been thrilled with this idea. However, the dystopia we are hurtling towards makes me less inclined to support new and shiny tech solely because it's new and shiny. It's a massive change from where I was 40 years ago, but I really don't think a lot of the things we are sold these days are improving our lives.

Add me to the list of people who are no longer comfortable with the current path of high technology.

I watched the WWDC presentation recently and soon realized that I must be living in a different universe from the rest of the Apple users. The folks in those videos seem to exist to be in constant contact with each other, obsessed with food and clothing from every culture outside their own, speaking in emojis and a surplus of exclamation points about everything. These people drift from home to work to shopping to closing rings in exercise challenges to parties, then back home to a life completely moderated by IOT devices. Rather than be cautious of the cameras pointed at them at every turn, they embrace it and seem to take a selfie every five seconds to update their timelines. Everything is saved in the cloud, and apparently people are so tired of typing things that they expect to now have conversations with devices which are expected to offer perfect results to every question and command. These people live fascinating (to them) lives that are so rich in detail that they couldn't possibly manage their own appointments or find their own way through a city they've lived in for 20 years or more. They must have help. Up-to-the-minute help that will eliminate all uncertainty from their existence.

i really could not be more out of phase with this.

While I truly enjoy all of the learning and discovering that I can do online, if my internet goes out for a few days I can occupy myself with one of the thousands of books that are organized by topic and author in most rooms of my house. I don't have a compelling need to skim through a book, post up a quasi-review on some site, and then revel in the number of hearts that appear next to the post.

There might be a dozen photos of me in existence from the past 40 years and half of those are on driver's licenses. No selfies. I don't have any social media accounts, the lack of such is apparently so anathema to modern society that no one believes me when I say it. My calendar isn't on an iDevice, it's hanging on the wall, it has pictures of cats for every month. When the power goes out during a storm I can see what my schedule is over the next few days by holding a flashlight up to it. I use absolutely no part of the cloud, aside from having my email pass through there because I have half a dozen devices using the same accounts.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy52]

Privacy is a relic now anyway…

Speaking as someone who still uses an iPod and a Mac SE on a daily basis, I like my relics, thank you very much.

 

[Henry762]

Apple is working on camera-equipped AirPods that appear to be nearly ready to launch, based on a video MacRumors found in the macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate.

In a short demo, a man holds a book up so the camera in the AirPods can see the title. "With Visual Intelligence, your world becomes savable. See something you like? Just ask me to save it for later," says the voiceover text.

Here is your first look at AirPods with Cameras in action using Visual Intelligence.This video file came from macOS 26.7 RC pic.twitter.com/yo7RI4MCeu— Aaron (@Aaronp613) August 18, 2026​

The camera on the AirPods will feed information to Visual Intelligence, and Siri will be able to answer questions about the wearer's surroundings and log information. There is a direct reference to setting up Visual Intelligence on the AirPods.

If hair is covering the AirPods up, you'll receive an alert. "To get the most accurate information about things in your environment, make sure AirPods are not covered," it says.

The camera-equipped AirPods have the codename B790, which was also previously mentioned by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman suggested the AirPods could launch as soon as September, so we could see them at the iPhone-centric event where Apple will unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and foldable iPhone Ultra.

macOS Tahoe 26.7 has multiple other mentions of the B790 product, as well as references to a long list of other unreleased Apple products.

Article Link: Apple's Camera-Equipped AirPods Confirmed: See Them in Action

So now we're going to have a whole new crop of people wearing AirPods non-stop / constantly / everywhere?

And now we're gonna have to wrry about people beving creepy & inappropriate with some of the most commonly used earbuds on the planet?

Great. 😒 😒

 

[Henry762]

Oh my ..

So many concerns here.

I hope they don't get Airpods banned in gyms & locker rooms with stuff like this.

Don't you worry.

These new AirPods will absolutely be banned from places like that within 2 weeks of release. 🤣🤷‍♂️😒

 

[Henry762]

Add me to the list of people who are no longer comfortable with the current path of high technology.

I watched the WWDC presentation recently and soon realized that I must be living in a different universe from the rest of the Apple users. The folks in those videos seem to exist to be in constant contact with each other, obsessed with food and clothing from every culture outside their own, speaking in emojis and a surplus of exclamation points about everything. These people drift from home to work to shopping to closing rings in exercise challenges to parties, then back home to a life completely moderated by IOT devices. Rather than be cautious of the cameras pointed at them at every turn, they embrace it and seem to take a selfie every five seconds to update their timelines. Everything is saved in the cloud, and apparently people are so tired of typing things that they expect to now have conversations with devices which are expected to offer perfect results to every question and command. These people live fascinating (to them) lives that are so rich in detail that they couldn't possibly manage their own appointments or find their own way through a city they've lived in for 20 years or more. They must have help. Up-to-the-minute help that will eliminate all uncertainty from their existence.

i really could not be more out of phase with this.

While I truly enjoy all of the learning and discovering that I can do online, if my internet goes out for a few days I can occupy myself with one of the thousands of books that are organized by topic and author in most rooms of my house. I don't have a compelling need to skim through a book, post up a quasi-review on some site, and then revel in the number of hearts that appear next to the post.

There might be a dozen photos of me in existence from the past 40 years and half of those are on driver's licenses. No selfies. I don't have any social media accounts, the lack of such is apparently so anathema to modern society that no one believes me when I say it. My calendar isn't on an iDevice, it's hanging on the wall, it has pictures of cats for every month. When the power goes out during a storm I can see what my schedule is over the next few days by holding a flashlight up to it. I use absolutely no part of the cloud, aside from having my email pass through there because I have half a dozen devices using the same accounts.

This post absolutely bears repeating.

Hear, hear! Well said my friend. 🫡🫡🫡

 

[citysnaps]

Normally I would agree with you @citysnaps and normally I suspect I’m regarded around here as a bit of a shill, as I typically argue in favour of Apple in many of the situations this forum likes to complain about, but this still makes me uncomfortable. Even if is doesn’t record visual information, and everything is encrypted and locked in PCC, I’m still not enthused by the proliferation of visually based AI devices.

Maybe I’m starting to get old now, and I’m losing the unbridled enthusiasm for tech I’ve had since the 80s.

Why not simply wait until the product is announced in the next few weeks/month and see what it's about? Right now people know zip about the cameras and how they will be used.

I know you're not one of the many people here who love to complain about Apple every single day.

 

[Sill]

Speaking as someone who still uses an iPod and a Mac SE on a daily basis, I like my relics, thank you very much.

As a relic myself, who has half a dozen Apple II computers - 5 working - I appreciate this remark.

 

[Sill]

This post absolutely bears repeating.

Hear, hear! Well said my friend. 🫡🫡🫡

Thank you Henry, I appreciate the support.

 

[mwhite]

It's never been litigated using my argument. At some point it will be.

Well, you’d better hop to it then

 

[Sill]

Well, you’d better hop to it then

I'm busy this week ;-)

 

[mwhite]

So now we're going to have a whole new crop of people wearing AirPods non-stop / constantly / everywhere?

And now we're gonna have to wrry about people beving creepy & inappropriate with some of the most commonly used earbuds on the planet?

Great. 😒 😒

You don’t even know what these new Airpods will do, or how the camera will actually be used. No one does.

 

[ResolutionNZ]

lol - this made me laugh.

Why are pedos now hiding around every corner?

It’s not illegal to record in public.

In areas considered private it is illegal.

I bet this product will be a massive hit for Apple.

They're not hiding. There are liberals in academia openly advocating for the rights of "minor attracted persons." This has been going on publicly for a long time, for example 1 and 2. Public cameras of every type can be abused, but its more likely to happen when they're mobile and disguised/hidden.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

if, if, if ... sure, add another big if.
at this point all we do here is speculating, nothing more, if this product actually materializes, we'll have to see what Apple has to say re use cases, privacy etc etc.
for me, mis-use will happen (why did Apple release like 50 security fixes in the past month?) and that will backlash.

You realize you're on a site called MacRumors, right? This whole site is about rumors and ifs.

 

[Bauer24]

Re-read the article and the above stood out for me, clearly it is recording, as in like "show me that drawing I looked at at store xyz this afternoon" - this is creepy, no other words for it.

Or, is Apple leaking this intentionally to see user reactions? Before a release?
And presumably all these new products will require the 27 version of the OS, so why all these reference in 26.7???

It's not "clearly" anything. We have zero idea if it's recording or not.

 

[hunter_a]

Another private data miner.

 

[Luftkopf]

Why not simply wait until the product is announced in the next few weeks/month and see what it's about? Right now people know zip about the cameras and how they will be used.

I know you're not one of the many people here who love to complain about Apple every single day.

On a small picture level, sure. I'm sure that Apple are working to walk the line, that there won't be user access to the cameras, and that as an individual product it will be fine. I'm more concerned about the big picture. I can see that LLMs have their uses, but the ever-creeping pervasiveness of AI systems bothers me.

I made myself start using 'AI' so that I can have an informed opinion, and relevant first-hand knowledge to use to help my daughter navigate this dystopia we're living in as she grows. I've found tech exciting since I was a child, now I'm getting concerned. I use social media on my own terms, I love my Apple gear, and think that Apple continues to do some great stuff, but the big picture worries me.

 

[eifelbube]

Would consider these new AIrPods if they can be tilted downward at a 45° angle without falling out and Siri AI can be trained for dog poop detection …

 

[eifelbube]

My sentiments exactly!

No matter if it's cameras in AirPods, or Apple Glasses...

It makes one wonder, just what is this company up to?

Oh sure there's the warm and fuzzy narrative and marketing speak they promote.

Then there's the potential risks that cameras everywhere present.

Even if they have optical cameras, that would still be consistent with Apple’s industry-leading emphasis on privacy because I can privately record people in public.
/s

 

[robertosh]

mmm there is a strange book in my table, let’s put my AirPods to know what it is…

Yes, after millions of years of evolution we arrived to this.

 

[SBlue1]

I don't like people to stare at me in the locker room. That is why we have social contracts to dissuade people from doing it. When they fail to follow the social contract, we punish them with social or legal consequences. How does this change that dynamic?

That's the point, you can't see if they are recording or not. The meta glasses have already been jailbroken so there is no light signaling that you are recording. You can't prevent somebody in the locker room looking your way for a fraction of a second, enough to snap a picture of you half naked.

Up to a few months ago only tech savvy creeps could use spy equipment, now everybody can do and stay mostly unnoticed. That's why more and more offices and public places are bannig those devices.

 

[SBlue1]

When you're at the beach, you are in a public place where there is no expectation of privacy.

So how about a school girls locker room? Is there an expectation of privacy? How about a mens gym locker room? I mean its a public place since anybody can go there, so filming you taking a shower is ok, right?

In Germany Meta Glasses are not allowed on many beaches and public pools because there IS an expectation of privacy. And I have seen many more places like offices with "no Smart Glasses" signs.

 

[Celtic-moniker]

So how about a school girls locker room? Is there an expectation of privacy? How about a mens gym locker room? I mean its a public place since anybody can go there, so filming you taking a shower is ok, right?

In Germany Meta Glasses are not allowed on many beaches and public pools because there IS an expectation of privacy. And I have seen many more places like offices with "no Smart Glasses" signs.

You got a link to this claim?

 

[Celtic-moniker]

Could everyone writing comments vilifying this as a potential privacy breech while on their phones please put your phone somewhere safe so the cameras on the back don’t accidentally capture images? I’d hate for you to be incidentally creating all the same conditions as you are currently complaining about.

 

[spazzcat]

What if we look at the demo as currently constituted and think.."why do I need this in my life?"

The cognitive dissonance is astounding. People complaining about $4 a gallon gas and $20 burritos yet they are the same people first in line for AirPods with cameras.

These two things aren't related. Just because I have the money to buy new AirPods doesn't mean I lose the right to complain about gas prices and overpriced fast food.