Meta has found itself in hot water thanks to growing concerns about the privacy implications surrounding the Meta Glasses with built in cameras. Apple is planning on putting cameras into AirPods, but solving privacy by not using the cameras to take photos or video.
What is it for then? Apple's integration of cameras into AirPods is designed he process might be quite advanced, as the leaking of this promo video – doing the rounds everywhere today – shows.
Here is your first look at AirPods with Cameras in action using Visual Intelligence.This video file came from macOS 26.7 RC pic.twitter.com/yo7RI4MCeuAugust 18, 2026
The video in the tweet shows Siri's upcoming "visual intelligence" feature, so the cameras are helping it see the world around the user but not being used to record images, which (arguably) solves privacy concerns.
It certainly would silence the immediate worries of many about capturing photos and video by stealth.
Except, well, there is a bit of a problem.
Firstly the video, leaked by @Aaron, doesn't appear to feature the same camera lenses seen in some other rumor images? Is it a fake? That'd be my immediate suspicion were it not for the fact that the video has been reposted online by probably the most famous Apple rumor merchant, Mark Gurman (see his re-post on x.com here).
That lends a degree of credibility. Not only that, but according to Gurman and other sources, Apple has been investigating these privacy issues and perhaps even delayed its own Meta-like glasses as a result.
These were internally codenamed N50, but Apple has had to face the reality that courts in New York, among others, have established bans (not to mention some casinos). It's also true, of course, that the Apple Vision Pro goggles don't seem likely to win the mainstream market.
AirTags were once also associated with stalking – privacy-related publicity seems like an area Apple is keen to avoid, even if it means being slow to the mark in this fast-growing category.
All of which adds up to Apple wanting to get a product out in this growing space, but having good reasons not to get involved in ongoing privacy debates. So, in short, restricting access to cameras to the AI and not a camera app makes sense.
It also, of course, sidesteps any discussion about image quality from such a small device.
Will the cameras actually see the world well from the ear? That'll be another question for another day...
As well as Meta, other brands are releasing glasses. Google is expected to this fall, featuring Gemini integration, built by Samsung and powered by Qualcomm chips. They will bear no relation to the Google Glass I wasted my money on to be part of the future in 2013!
