Apple’s camera-equipped AirPods may have leaked in macOS

Apple may have accidentally revealed camera-equipped AirPods in a 13-second demo video bundled with the macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate. The New Web reports that MacRumors found the clip, which shows a man holding up a book while the earbuds identify its title.

The voiceover says: “With Visual Intelligence, your world becomes savable. See something you like? Just ask me to save it for later.” The software also includes a reference to setting up Visual Intelligence on AirPods, suggesting the earbuds could send information about the wearer’s surroundings to Apple’s AI system. Siri would then answer questions about what the user is seeing and log the information.

One Tahoe string warns users not to cover the earbuds with their hair:

“To get the most accurate information about things in your environment, make sure AirPods are not covered.”

The product is reportedly codenamed B790. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman previously suggested a September launch, potentially alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and a foldable iPhone Ultra, although Apple has not announced the earbuds.

AirPods instead of smart glasses

The apparent choice of earbuds could give Apple a large installed base for an AI wearable. M.G. Siegler pointed out that the demo shows the user capturing the book without a phone. He compared the estimated 10 million sales of Ray-Ban Meta glasses with Apple’s more than 400 million AirPods sold, possibly approaching 500 million.

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Siegler argued that AirPods could avoid the design problem that hurt Google Glass: they already look like a familiar consumer product. Reports from May, cited by TechCrunch, say the earbuds may resemble the AirPods Pro 3, with a longer stem and an LED indicating when data is sent to the cloud.

That design would not eliminate the privacy concerns surrounding camera-equipped wearables. The New Web notes that camera glasses have faced bans or restrictions in UK courts, restaurants, theaters and Wetherspoons pubs, while critics have used terms including “pervert glasses” and “PervertPods.”

Camera capability and launch remain unclear

The video itself may not depict final hardware. TechRadar’s Tom Bedford said its production quality does not resemble Apple marketing material and suggested it could be an internal or placeholder video. The earbuds shown may be ordinary AirPods standing in for a future product.

The camera is also invisible in the clip. The earbuds appear similar to current AirPods Pro models, apart from a thicker stem that could house the sensor. It is still unknown whether the shipping product will capture still images, record video, or only analyze the wearer’s surroundings in real time. Siegler expects still-image capture but suggested video may come later.

The codenames are unsettled, too. MacRumors connects B790 to Gurman’s reporting, while Engadget said B790 may be separate from B798, another camera-equipped AirPods model Gurman has associated with 2027.

Apple has said nothing about the product. The September event, if it appears there, should clarify whether B790 is real hardware, whether the camera has a visible recording indicator, and whether the earbuds can save images or only process live visual information.