Apple has always been an icon of innovation, searching for new frontiers in technology. Revolutionary as the iPod may have been, the era of the iPhone came in, and now the advancing Vision Pro boosts the technology that has transformed some aspects of user experience. What if, instead of just enjoying pure sound, AirPods could see? You heard right: Apple is developing AirPods with cameras, taking a giant leap into the future of wearable AI. It seems like a bold move that might change our interaction with technology by merging audio accessories with augmented reality.
As Apple is developing AirPods that allow a view into the world through new and surprising integrations, it will take another year or two to launch. However, due to this advancement, it is also reported that according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, perhaps there will not be too much AI action on the iOS 19 front. The past few weeks have seen Apple holding its launch spree for Macs, iPads, and, of course, the iPhone 16e. The company has cleared its existing lineup, and priority is set for fresh innovations, including AirPods with an inbuilt camera.
AirPods with Camera:
The notion of AirPods with a camera might sound futuristic, but Apple aims to take its wearable ecosystem one step further by integrating some visual intelligence into its very popular wireless earbuds. The technology will make AirPods understand what goes around them much better in the most usable advanced way, adding functionalities similar to smart glasses without needing actual glasses to be worn.
This is part of a wider AI and AR campaign that Apple is implementing. Using the external cameras and AI, the new AirPods could focus on interpreting the environment in real time, potentially opening up doors to more advanced navigation, object recognition, and experience displays. Still, the technology will not likely launch until at least 2027, potentially with the AirPods Pro 4.
Upgrade Camera Control Features:
With the introduction of the iPhone 16 series, Apple introduced a new feature called Camera Control, which allows users to take photos while adjusting settings seamlessly. In addition, this feature enables Visual Intelligence, a feature that Apple seems keen on enhancing on other devices. Gurman’s Bloomberg report suggests that Apple is investigating ways to bring similar tech to the AirPods, giving it more of a function beyond just an audio accessory. Moreover, it is pondering over smart glasses, similar to Meta’s Ray-Ban AI Glasses, to put to use its investments in Vision Pro’s visual intelligence.
Apple Intelligence:
While it’s thrilling to think about AirPods with a camera, Apple seems to be falling behind in AI development. At WWDC 2024, Apple introduced Apple Intelligence, but there were no signs of an update. The highly awaited conversational Siri may come into use only in iOS 20 as the words go. The latest insight from Mark Gurman’s report explains that iOS 19 will be more about improving the current features of Apple Intelligence than introducing new features in AI. While expected improvements to Siri are likely, they are not likely to make very much difference in AI capabilities. Rather, it seems Apple is in the catch-up phase of integrating the existing AI capabilities into its ecosystem. Gurman says,
“The bad news is that Apple is unlikely to unveil groundbreaking new AI features at this coming WWDC. Instead, it will likely lay out plans for bringing current capabilities to more apps”.
Apple’s Future:
In addition to that, Apple has also postponed several forthcoming AI features. The ‘LLM Siri’ backend, which was to be launched with iOS 18.4, is now earmarked to fall with iOS 19.4. Similarly, other Siri AI related functionalities are also postponed for a future release, likely to coincide with iOS 19. The anticipated AirPods with cameras look very much like a fantasy from a science fiction movie where users might redefine their boundaries between themselves and their environment.
Whether this is revolutionary or just another experiment is still open. Meanwhile, all its competitors are marching ahead in the generative AI space, while Apple is taking its sweet time with further development on AI advances. Nonetheless, considering the current enhancement into the ecosystem, the next years will bear heavily with investments made into AI and visual intelligence.
