Leaked Apple Video Shows AirPods With Cameras Using Visual Intelligence
The 13-second demo recognizes a book and offers to save it for later, while setup files reveal how Apple may handle blocked camera views.
Camera-equipped AirPods have mostly existed in reports and code. Now Apple’s own software shows what the experience could look like.
Buried inside the macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate is an Apple-made video showing the idea in action. A person lifts a book, looks at it while wearing AirPods, and Visual Intelligence offers to save it for later.
Aaron Perris of MacRumors shared the 13-second video on X (opens in a new tab). Minutes later, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reposted the clip (opens in a new tab) and wrote, “Here are the camera AirPods.” That is not an announcement from Apple, but it adds weight to the B790 references already sitting inside macOS.
The clip lasts only 13 seconds, but it does something rumors rarely do. It shows the experience Apple has designed for its unannounced B790 earbuds actually working.
The AirPods become Siri’s eyes
These cameras do not appear to be there so you can turn AirPods into a GoPro for your ears. Their job is to give Visual Intelligence a view of the world around you.
In the demo, the person holds up Could Should Might Don’t by Nick Foster. The AirPods see the cover, and Visual Intelligence offers to save the book. The whole interaction begins with a glance.
Apple already lets apps work with Visual Intelligence (opens in a new tab), which can find information and app content that matches an object in the camera view. Camera AirPods could make that experience more convenient by giving Visual Intelligence a view while your phone stays in your pocket.
MacRumors found the warning (opens in a new tab) in Apple’s B790 setup strings inside HeadphoneAssets.framework in macOS 26.7 RC: “To get the most accurate information about things in your environment, make sure AirPods are not covered.” That is more interesting than it sounds. With an iPhone, you can see when your finger is blocking the camera. With AirPods, the cameras sit beside your head, where you cannot check them. Apple may need to detect when one side loses its view and tell you. Fit, hair, hats, and everyday movement could all change how reliably this works.
Earlier code described two views
The B790 name first popped up in iOS 27 beta code found in July (opens in a new tab). The instructions described two images from cameras on opposite sides of a person’s head. Both images showed the same scene from slightly different positions.
That sure sounds like a camera in each AirPod. Two slightly different views could give Apple more spatial context than one flat image, although the code never explains what it plans to do with that second angle.
The demo also leaves one big question unanswered: where are the cameras? The earbuds look close to the current AirPods Pro design, so the clip may be illustrating the experience rather than showing finished hardware.
Camera AirPods are coming into focus
Gurman previously reported that Apple’s camera-equipped AirPods had reached late-stage testing (opens in a new tab). Another model known as B798 has reportedly moved to a late 2027 schedule, while B790 has appeared on Apple’s internal roadmap for 2026.
We still do not know how the two projects differ, what Apple will call them, or when either might reach stores. What the demo does make clear is why the idea is compelling.
Giving Siri Visual Intelligence could make Apple’s assistant far more useful in the moments when your hands are busy or your iPhone stays in your pocket. You could look at a book, sign, product, or place and ask Siri to understand it, remember it, or help you act on it. This demo shows one small example, but the bigger idea is powerful: an AI assistant that can share more of the context you already see.
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