Apple is quietly testing camera-equipped AirPods, and the evidence surfaced in its own software. Code strings and a demo video buried inside the macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate reveal a pair of earbuds, internally codenamed B790, built around AirPods Pro 3’s shape but fitted with tiny integrated cameras.
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 footage found by developers shows the earbuds working with Visual Intelligence, Apple’s system for identifying objects and answering questions about what a user is looking at. In one clip, Siri reads out the title of a book held up in front of the wearer. A voiceover pitches the feature directly: “With Visual Intelligence, your world becomes savable. See something you like? Just ask me to save it for later.” The system also includes a practical safeguard, warning wearers when hair or fabric blocks the lenses so the camera can’t read the environment accurately.
The discovery confirms Apple is moving Visual Intelligence off the iPhone and onto the body. Rivals have already staked out this territory: Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses use cameras for the same kind of ambient recognition, and Amazon has explored similar tricks with Echo Frames. Putting a camera in an earbud, rather than on a lens, sidesteps some of the social awkwardness of camera glasses while still giving Siri a live view of the world.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported the earbuds could launch as early as September 2026, potentially alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and a foldable iPhone Ultra. The same beta build references another unreleased product, codenamed B798, which has reportedly slipped from 2026 into 2027.
If the timeline holds, camera AirPods would mark Apple’s clearest step yet toward ambient computing, where the assistant is always listening and now, potentially, always watching too.
