Apple is developing camera-equipped AirPods that can capture synchronized color images from both earbuds, according to code found inside the macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate. The software gives the clearest look yet at how Apple has tested cameras inside AirPods for Visual Intelligence and environmental awareness.
MacRumors previously discovered a hidden demo video showing a person presenting a book cover to camera-equipped AirPods and saving information for later. Additional code now reveals how those cameras capture images, process movement, detect people, and communicate with a Mac.
MacRumors forum member mactracker found the details inside a hidden macOS framework called AccessorySensorManager, which manages sensor data received from connected AirPods. The framework appears tied to Apple’s earlier B790 prototype, although many of the underlying ideas could carry over to future hardware.
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How camera-equipped AirPods could work
The code describes one computer vision camera inside each AirPod, with the left and right earbuds working together to capture the same scene from slightly different angles.
- Each AirPod appears to contain its own color camera sensor, internally referred to as “Kino,” while macOS separately identifies left and right CVCAM computer vision cameras.
- Both cameras capture synchronized still images with matching frame IDs, allowing the system to combine information from both sides while checking that each frame belongs to the same capture.
- Active capture uses a 640 x 640 source image and returns a processed image measuring up to 1024 x 1024, which produces an output slightly above one megapixel.
- Passive capture runs at a lower 320 x 320 resolution and can return either a 320 x 320 or 512 x 512 processed image, depending on the capture configuration.
- The framework supports single captures and repeated still-image capture at a specified rate, although the code does not include conventional video recording.
- Passive mode appears designed for continuous environmental awareness, with contextual triggers covering nearby speech, changes in surrounding audio, posture changes, head rotation, and movement outside a defined area.
- Apple also built extensive calibration into the system, including lens distortion correction, camera positioning, motion sensor calibration, and checks that reject frames affected by excessive movement or blocked views.
- Some image analysis happens directly on the AirPods through what Apple calls “peripheral inference,” including detecting whether a person appears inside the camera’s field of view.
- The framework can control the brightness of a hardware indicator, suggesting each earbud could include a visible light that signals when its camera is capturing images.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported that Apple has abandoned the B790 version of the camera-equipped AirPods Pro 3 shown in the discovered video. Apple is reportedly developing a newer camera-equipped AirPods generation under the B798 codename instead.
Gurman says Apple currently plans to launch camera-equipped AirPods in 2027, potentially alongside the 20th-anniversary iPhone. The macOS findings describe Apple’s existing camera system in considerable detail, although the company can still change the hardware, sensors, resolutions, and Visual Intelligence features before the final product reaches customers.
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