Apple's Camera-Equipped AirPods Ultra: What to Expect

Apple is working on Air Pods that have cameras for feeding data to Siri. The new earbuds will be Apple's first AI wearable, and current rumors suggest they're going to come out in late 2027. Subscribe to the Mac Rumors You Tube channel for more videos.Design The Air Pods will look similar to the current Air Pods Pro 3, but with cameras embedded in the stem. Apple also plans to include a light that will come on when visual data from the Air Pods is being sent to the cloud. The LED will let people around the wearer know the cameras are in use. Size, design, and fit are expected to remain the largely same for the earbuds and the charging case, with the exception of the changes to the stem. Rumors suggest Apple will use tiny infrared cameras, similar to the infrared camera used for Face ID. Features The cameras in the AirPods will be used for sending data about the wearer's surroundings to ‌Siri‌, giving ‌Siri‌ more information about where the user is and what's nearby. ‌Siri‌ will be able to answer questions about objects or whatever the wearer happens to be looking at. The camera-equipped AirPods could be useful for more exact turn-by-turn directions when walking, contextual reminders, 3D mapping, and more. The iPhone already has Visual Intelligence, which uses AI to identify plants, animals, landmarks, art, books, and more. Camera-equipped AirPods will be able to supply data for ‌Visual Intelligence‌ without the need to use the Camera app. Users aren't likely to be able to use the cameras to capture photos and videos. H3 Chip Apple is working on an upgraded H3 chip and it could make its first appearance in the next AirPods Pro. The H3 chip is expected to bring latency improvements and better audio quality. Naming Initial rumors about the AirPods with cameras said they wouldn't be a full new model and wouldn't be called the AirPods Pro 4, but launch timing has since changed. It's now likely the AirPods will be part of the AirPods Pro