Mark Gurman first reported AirPods camera hardware in March 2025. He said it again this week, over a year later. The cameras are for Siri — no photos or video in the first version. For that, you'll need Apple Glasses.
The catch is the iPhone in your pocket. Visual Intelligence — the on-device feature the cameras would feed — runs only on iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, the iPhone 16 line, 16e, and 17e. Point your camera at a restaurant and get the hours, menu, and a reservation link. Point it at a sign in another language and get a translation. Identify a plant, look up an object, pull a date off a poster and add it straight to your calendar. No app switching, no typing. You look at something and your phone tells you about it. Anyone on an older phone gets premium earbuds without any of that.
Gurman has stayed consistent across both reports. Hand gesture controls, floated by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, are not expected in the first version either.
Timing is unconfirmed, but a September reveal alongside the foldable iPhone is a possibility.
If you are on iPhone 14 or earlier, the camera feature does not apply to you. Price accordingly.