Apple's plans for the next generations of both AirPods Pro and regular AirPods are expected to include cameras strongly leaning on Apple Intelligence.
Now that Apple has released its updated AirPods Pro 3, Bloomberg claims that the company is focusing on adding Apple Intelligence to the next models.
In this respect, the report is devoid of any details about Apple Intelligence beyond a claim that it will be used alongside embedded cameras. This has been reported before, with the idea being that environment data gathered by infrared cameras on the AirPods could be passed to iPhones or Apple Vision Pro.
AirPods cameras
The first rumors of camera-equipped AirPods came in June 2024, when analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said they would be used to enhance Spatial Audio in the Apple Vision Pro. Then in June 2025, Apple filed for a patent regarding the use of cameras on AirPods.
In that patent, the company laid out plans for how cameras would be used as proximity sensors. So they could tell if you are in a small, enclosed space — or if you wave your hand by them.
Consequently, cameras could double as gesture detectors. But the patent research says the same technology could "determine whether the earbud is positioned in a user's ear or lying on a table."
More future improvements
What the new report does specify is that Apple is working to update its H3 processor. The company is said to be aiming to improve audio quality.
It's also said that Apple wants want to cut down on latency. Latency, in this case, is the lag between a user speaking and the AirPods Pro reacting to a command. It could also potentially be the lag between hearing a voice and providing live translation of it.
This would be for the next generation of the AirPods Pro. But Apple is also said to be working on AirPods 5, both the base and the mid-range models.
For these, it's claimed that Apple wants to bring a temperature reader across the whole AirPods lineup.
There's no new indication of when these updated models will be released. However, previous reports said that camera-equipped AirPods would launch in 2026.
