Apple is reportedly working on adding camera sensors to a future version of AirPods — and it’s not the only company putting cameras near our ears. CNET’s Bridget Carey explores what it could be used for, and looks to one recent acquisition.
You can find the products mentioned in this video linked below
Apple AirPods Pro 3 Wireless Earbuds
Apple AirPods 4 Wireless Earbuds
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Read more about the rumored AirPod tech in the CNET article:
Apple Reportedly May Add Infrared Cameras to Its Next AirPods Pro
0:00 The future of AirPods tech
0:12 Will new AirPods have cameras?
1:17 Apple buys lip-reading tech, Q.ai
1:32 How could AirPod cameras work?
2:14 Primesense and IR hand gesture tracking
2:54 Could AirPod cameras mean Apple glasses are coming soon?
3:20 Privacy and AI AirPods with cameras
5:06 How could Apple use IR cameras in AirPods?
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#apple #airpods #airpodspro #appleairpods #applenews #applerumors
@Divyamshu-ij3uc
July 10, 2026 at 3:06 pm
Talk about the consumer safety and risks to human health..
How much radiation does Apple products like iPhone, Airpods etc emit? Cancer risk
@spdmn212
July 10, 2026 at 3:06 pm
4:02 Correct, these are a bit of a perv-y spy tech item and don’t think they’ll sell well.
Socially in public it will make folks feel awkward and avoid someone with cameras on their face
@Divyamshu-ij3uc
July 10, 2026 at 3:10 pm
Put cameras in all orifices of human body.. No concern about invasion of privacy.
@JosephDickson
July 10, 2026 at 3:13 pm
Your privacy will be invaded by everyone and you won’t have anything you can do to prevent it. 🙁
@marklewis3579
July 10, 2026 at 3:21 pm
Flies get it
@Divyamshu-ij3uc
July 10, 2026 at 3:28 pm
Apple Airpods fall off from the ears frequently, when the user is moving or exercising.
Apple Airpods need a earhooks to keep it stay put in ears and prevent falling off from the ears.
@Divyamshu-ij3uc
July 10, 2026 at 3:30 pm
Brain Cancer
@Tenchinu
July 10, 2026 at 3:42 pm
nothing makes me trust tech overlords more than a camera I can’t even see myself… on my skull
@keith11221
July 10, 2026 at 3:42 pm
Americans have been wearing glasses for 300 years! If we’re more comfortable with people wearing anything (outside of clothes/footwear) it would be glasses!
@shanet7511
July 10, 2026 at 3:56 pm
So ill have to take them out of my ears to point it at my mouth to give it a silent command. Sounds great!!!
@BStark00
July 10, 2026 at 4:11 pm
Temp sensor …
@Alex-uy8zx
July 10, 2026 at 4:41 pm
Yeah…. I’m taking a HARD pass on Airpods with cameras. I don’t need headphones for anything except listening to music. Even that ridiculous head gesture feature that already exists is incredibly stupid. F AI on headphones, especially from the company that hasn’t been able to improve Siri in 15 years.
@Royce16727
July 10, 2026 at 4:50 pm
I’ve heard about this before. There’s been speculation in the”Disabled community” that Apple was working on something like this. It could be useful for people like me 🤷
@Alex-uy8zx
July 10, 2026 at 4:52 pm
Every feature that Apple has rolled out with Airpods that has nothing to do with listening to music as sucked over the past few years. Translator? Sucks. Head gestures? Stupid and made for lazy people. Hearing protection? F U Apple. I can turn down my music when I WANT TO TURN DOWN THE MUSIC.
@sbonfye8058
July 10, 2026 at 5:26 pm
Tech just getting creepier and more invasive as the years go by.
@thecodemongoose
July 10, 2026 at 6:26 pm
Apple may have binned this for now. But this would be great for the visually impaired.
@davidjewood
July 10, 2026 at 6:27 pm
Apple really looked at the ‘AirPods are too small and easy to lose’ problem and decided the solution was to turn them into hair-styled surveillance devices. I can’t wait to explain to my barber why I need a specific haircut to ensure my headphones can see
@GreggyMcfly
July 10, 2026 at 6:47 pm
Imagine this: the base iPhone will cost around $2000.00. AirPods Pro Ultra: $999…
Apple Pro Display XDR vibes…
@adden2242
July 10, 2026 at 7:34 pm
with camera?? in your ears? weird folks! pass for me..not a good gimmick!
@cjthomp2005
July 10, 2026 at 7:50 pm
I’ve been peer-pressured more by people trying to sell me on AI than people offering me drugs in high school. Ridiculous.
@CNET
July 10, 2026 at 8:01 pm
Read more about the rumored AirPod tech in the CNET article: Apple Reportedly May Add Infrared Cameras to Its Next AirPods Pro
@whitemailprivilege2830
July 10, 2026 at 8:08 pm
I only watch because of Bridget 😂
@eyeintheskyakagod
July 10, 2026 at 8:08 pm
This is how you get Cybermen
@EvanBlack11
July 10, 2026 at 9:11 pm
But why?
@mgoss176
July 11, 2026 at 10:15 am
Why would I ever need that
@brianschiff7371
July 11, 2026 at 10:44 am
Dorothy Ann Hudson from the Magic School Bus grew up to become Bridget. See kids, good early education and having a great teacher does work.
@Top10Tibbz
July 11, 2026 at 11:10 am
For training AI models
@erinmalone2669
July 11, 2026 at 11:18 am
It will be great tech for disability accessibility but all the reasons that are nefarious… we can’t even imagine the end game
@1njtrooper
July 11, 2026 at 11:32 am
Can I just get some better battery life across my Apple products????
@ironskilletmedia
July 11, 2026 at 12:09 pm
Interesting…
@defur45
July 11, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Technology overall is getting far worse and far worse for humanity.
@firianto
July 11, 2026 at 12:24 pm
for blind spot?
@myaccount0000
July 11, 2026 at 1:10 pm
literal 1984 that we are livin IN!
@myaccount0000
July 11, 2026 at 1:10 pm
or not
@coreygilmore301
July 11, 2026 at 1:37 pm
I use Meta smart glasses right now because I have a low vision problem. I can get information from the printed word on a menu. For example, I can say”look at this menu and tell me what salads are on the menu.””Now tell me which one is the cheapest.” This helps reduce The need independence on Staff. I love being able to be independent but I don’t necessarily love the fact that they’re from Meta. I really need Apple to come out with a pair of glasses. One of the challenges with The me to glasses is getting them to pair with your phone but of course, Apple would not have this problem.
@xcalibur1011
July 11, 2026 at 1:39 pm
too many people with camera air pods needs to be cautious because they can’t be worn in sensitive areas like courthouses police stations etc,etc, which might put someone in harms way.
and will fog up in rain snow weather while wearing a hood and carrying an umbrella making them useless in an emergency.
@Doggonedead
July 11, 2026 at 1:53 pm
Welcome to *-D**gD**g-* Modern tech where we solve problems that *no one has*
@LactoMoraes
July 11, 2026 at 2:50 pm
You either have a secure tech, or a practical and connected one.
@evergonzalez6350
July 11, 2026 at 3:06 pm
No one asked for a camera on their ears. Who started this rumor?
@authenticapparel1906
July 11, 2026 at 3:12 pm
I feel extremely uncomfortable with this. I don’t want all my tech devices recording every single thing. They already do that and sell all of our information.
@eustacequinlank7418
July 11, 2026 at 3:18 pm
There are a lot more questions to be answered on the passive use of this in public. Some self-awareness as a human being from the early adopter consumers might be welcome at some stage when they have the potential to be used as an autonomous facial recognition camera with X2 28mm widea angle lenses plugged into the side of their heads. In the meantime, you simply stop talking to people wearing this crap.
I understand the upcoming argument for sense-impaired people, but if you’re using it for the gimmick and asking people to accept your company, then you’d better concede politely to _their will_ or become a pariah.
@JorgTheElder
July 12, 2026 at 5:21 am
Then you have to stop talking to everyone that has their phone out too…
@LoveIsABattlefield69
July 11, 2026 at 4:15 pm
Surveillance capitalism, baby. You are the product.
@paultopping7413
July 11, 2026 at 5:12 pm
Maybe I’ve missed the point but airpods with cameras could only see what’s on either side of you and as you pointed out not if you have long hair, so I really don’t get it! But hey I guess it’s not demographics like me they’re looking for!
@fleetingfacet
July 11, 2026 at 5:19 pm
In Japan they put cameras on their shoes.
@roman2011
July 11, 2026 at 6:04 pm
People are dumb to pay to become human tripods for data collection.
@JorgTheElder
July 12, 2026 at 5:20 am
You have a smartphone right?! It has already happened.
@comment.highlighted
July 11, 2026 at 6:28 pm
I need a camera on my camera 📷
@JavenarchX
July 11, 2026 at 6:40 pm
Just no
@Justmagic_NL
July 11, 2026 at 7:37 pm
I believe it has something to do with the fact that Siri ai is unavailable in the eu due to the DMA law. Since Siri ai would be the core for this tech. Same for the new HomePods and Apple tv’s. I think they’re all on hold till they solved that situation.
@Iona_Roe_Deer
July 11, 2026 at 8:14 pm
Ai and cameras, what can go wrong. 😑
@AndrewDInSydney
July 11, 2026 at 11:06 pm
IR may pass though hair(?)
@videobiker9131
July 11, 2026 at 11:33 pm
I could think of one place where they would be better off putting that lip reading technology. On the iPhone!!! This would have the potential to make Siri much more accurate. I’m sick and tired of feeling like I’m talking in a bunch of monkeys are interpreting what I’m saying and then they’re typing. What’s on the screen.
@ROBMCMXCIII
July 11, 2026 at 11:54 pm
They really think there’s going to have cameras lol
@DavidFSloneEsq
July 12, 2026 at 12:11 am
“Open the pod bay doors, Siri.”
“I’m sorry, Dave. I can’t do that.”
@faridmbarki84
July 12, 2026 at 2:21 am
Why would anybody ever buy this? And I am and have been a hardcore AirPod user from the beginning.
@PriceWordplay
July 12, 2026 at 3:48 am
More spying on people
@JorgTheElder
July 12, 2026 at 5:19 am
The creepy types are not paying Meta Ray-Ban prices to secretly record people, there are a ton of 4K “spy” cameras on Amazon for a lot less money, and no *recording light* hardware that has to be disabled.
@JimCarnicelli
July 12, 2026 at 8:29 am
Could be used like the O2 Ring to detect O2 levels and heartrate
@sound-sgood
July 12, 2026 at 8:42 am
Cameras on the earbuds can enable 360-degree view if paired with glasses
@boweassange2023
July 12, 2026 at 9:01 am
My favorites are the ball cap-, spectacle-, and buttonhole cameras.
@boweassange2023
July 12, 2026 at 9:04 am
“Infidelity investigations”?
@HooKt4
July 12, 2026 at 10:35 am
You carry smartphones with multiple cameras and mics around all day. Why is this the point where you’ve become suspicious?
@damham-F47
July 12, 2026 at 1:38 pm
Because the more ways the tech broligarchs that be can get us to spy on each other for them, the more they can control us. Ring doorbells, meta glasses, car cameras, earbud cameras, cell phones, all the data ends up on data servers own by tech broligarchs.
@Potato_Donkey
July 12, 2026 at 4:12 pm
been watching your videos for years. really enjoy them. was surprised that you didn’t mention the blood pressure monitoring, etc that these airpod cameras are supposedly going to do. apple is going deep in health tracking since it’s a bajillion dollar industry. read articles a few years ago about this trajectory — check it out . airpods will be the next apple watch for health tracking
@ameerwastaken
July 12, 2026 at 5:50 pm
So the ray ban metas wasn’t enough
@ThusithaJayakody
July 12, 2026 at 9:51 pm
Time to go to 90s tech back again.
@jahmediastudios4061
July 13, 2026 at 11:47 am
Yup first cause a generation to be autistic and mostly non verbal ..then this …seems planned to me ..welcome to evolution folks ..whether you like it or not
@exRedMage
July 13, 2026 at 12:40 pm
The surveillance state will be accepted by the public with open arms
@Heisenbourne
July 13, 2026 at 5:15 pm
Yeah I’m out lol time to abandon technology
@gracefulsimplebean
July 13, 2026 at 9:18 pm
I mean why?