The update to the AirPods Pro 3 will be part of Apple's fall launches, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo insists, but versions with infrared cameras will be arriving in 2026.

Apple's fall launches are just on the horizon, and while the iPhone 17 is a dead cert, other products are still up for debate. If famed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is correct, it will at least include a long-awaited upgrade for Apple's personal audio line.

Posting to X late on Saturday, Kuo issued an update to an earlier May claim about the AirPods lineup. At that time, he said that AirPods probably won't see "significant updates" until 2026, lining up with an earlier prediction of IR camera-equipped AirPods would be mass-produced the same year.

This time, he writes that Apple is expected to launch AirPods Pro 3 in 2H25, that is the second half of 2025. In effect predicting AirPods Pro 3 before the end of the year, Kuo is practically forecasting for their inclusion in one of Apple's fall events.

The current rumors for the AirPods Pro 3 say Apple will be incorporating a heart rate monitor, borrowing the feature from the Powerbeats Pro 2. An improved pairing mechanism and smaller case are also expected for the model.

Kuo has a very good track record when it comes to Apple rumors and analysis. His supply chain reporting gives a very good indication of what Apple is up to, and with a high level of accuracy compared to the rest of the rumor mill.

Given the other rumor sources about AirPods Pro 3 coming soon, Kuo's addition seems very plausible, almost bordering on a certainty.

Wearable IR cameras

Kuo's tweet also touches upon a future update to the AirPods lineup, in the form of a new sensor. According to Kuo, a version with IR cameras will be going into mass production in 2026.

The inclusion of cameras in AirPods Pro has been rumored before, with the idea behind it being a play to improve the computer vision capabilities of Apple Intelligence. Instead of relying on the camera on an iPhone to provide Visual Intelligence data to work with, IR cameras on the AirPods Pro could provide some environmental information too.

Having cameras on the earbuds would save users from having to pull their iPhone out for some environmental queries. Using IR cameras can also point to some limited depth mapping capabilities, if used in a system similar to the TrueDepth camera array's emitter and receiver.

Cameras in AirPods also makes sense when you consider Apple's ambitions to create Apple Glass. It saves Apple from having to add more cameras to the smart glasses, saving weight from what is supposed to be a lightweight accessory.

You could also argue that, with audio feedback via AirPods, using cameras feeding data to a connected iPhone would effectively create most of the functionality of smart glasses. The only thing missing would be visual feedback.