A leaked video in Apple's macOS 27 Release Candidate revealed rumored camera-enabled AirPods using Visual Intelligence, uncovered by Aaron Perris. The footage shows a user asking Siri to analyze a book via the AirPods' camera. This timing coincides with recent privacy controversies surrounding Meta's AI glasses and Flock Safety's 120,000 license plate readers.

Unlike Meta's camera-first approach, Apple's implementation may use low infrared resolution cameras solely for contextual AI processing, with images inaccessible to users or Apple. Mark Gurman has reported similar details about Apple's privacy-focused strategy. With John Ternus potentially leading the announcement, Apple aims to position itself as the privacy-conscious alternative to Meta's surveillance concerns. The key will be flawless execution emphasizing privacy at the September launch.