Apple's AirPods with cameras could improve spatial audio on the iPhone and other Apple devices by detecting the position of the display the wearer is looking at. Details on the capability were found in macOS Tahoe 26.7 code, and shared on the MacRumors forums by member pdfu.
Sensors in the current AirPods power a spatial audio head tracking feature, and cameras could take that further. Code suggests the camera-equipped AirPods will find the physical screen the wearer is watching content on, comparing the screen's direction with the direction estimated by the motion sensors in the AirPods.
The AirPods may be able to identify laptops, displays, smartphones, tablets, and TVs, even detecting multiple displays and narrowing audio to the one the wearer is looking at. Screen detection will work behind the scenes and may pause when the wearer is in motion.
Devices with Face ID already use the Face ID sensors to assist with head tracking, but if the user also has AirPods with cameras, the AirPods will prefer camera input over Face ID.
Code also references a server-based visual reasoning feature, further reinforcing rumors of Visual Intelligence support. The AirPods will reportedly send camera data to Apple's servers for Visual Intelligence requests.
The macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate that came out in August leaked a long list of references to unreleased Apple products, including the AirPods with cameras. Though multiple references to the AirPods were found, rumors suggest the product isn't going to launch until fall 2027.
