Apple is preparing for a huge wave of new product releases, including camera- and AI-equipped AirPods and glasses that will launch the company into the red-hot AI device market — and into head-on competition with Meta’s own AI-enabled camera sunglasses.
Apple’s new AirPods mark the next step in its development of what it calls Visual Intelligence, technology that can analyze images and provide instant context, according to Bloomberg News.
The AI-juiced earbuds will closely resemble current AirPod Pro models, but with tiny cameras embedded in the stems.
Rather than capturing photos or video, the device’s computer-vision cameras would serve as sensors, supplying Siri with visual context – such as helping improve navigation during turn-by-turn walking directions.
The tech giant is also planning to launch its first smart glasses as soon as late 2027, Bloomberg reported. Code-named N50, the shades will compete with products from Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta and will feature more advanced cameras capable of capturing photos and video.
Meta – which has its own AI and camera tech embedded in Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses – has come under criticism as creeps and wannabe pickup artists have reportedly used them to record their come-ons to unsuspecting women, posting the pervy results in video form online.
Privacy advocates have also issued warnings about the potential dangers of wearable AI tech.
Apple’s AI AirPods will have external lights that can alert people around the wearer when data is being sent from the earbuds to the cloud, according to Bloomberg.
The new AirPods are intended to become Apple’s first AI-centric wearable device.
The release is set to come around the same time as a next-gen foldable phone and a new iPhone model to mark the product line’s 20th anniversary.
Apple intends the upcoming slate of offerings to be its largest debut of new products yet, Bloomberg reported.
Early versions of Meta’s smart glasses have been able to take pictures and shoot videos. With the addition of AI, they can answer questions and respond with text on one lens for “Display” models or via audio built into the stems of non-Display models.
Apple has already made Visual Intelligence a centerpiece of its revamped Siri and iOS 27, integrating the feature directly into the Camera app.
The aim is to allow users to ask Siri questions about objects and their surroundings. A user looking at a selection of ingredients, for instance, could ask the assistant what to make for dinner.
The AirPods initiative is part of a broader push into AI-powered hardware from Apple.
Apple is also developing an AI-focused pendant equipped with a camera that could be worn on clothing or as a necklace — but probably not like the device that controls space and time in the “Black Mirror” episode “Bête Noire.”
The new products could provide tailwinds during the first full year of John Ternus’ tenure as chief executive officer after he succeeds to the role in September.
The AirPods, code-named B798, were originally targeted for a 2026 release, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The timetable slipped in part because of Apple’s prolonged challenges in artificial-intelligence software development. The company also needed to build visual AI models capable of identifying objects in a user’s environment.
