When Apple pushed out the release candidate for macOS Tahoe 26.7 last week, it contained references to a raft of unannounced products, from home devices to iPhones, iPads, AirPods, and Macs. It's not the first time this kind of thing has happened, but the sheer amount of references, including a video showing off AirPods with cameras, is unusual. Code references to unreleased products turn up in early Apple betas regularly, but Tahoe 26.7 was a Release Candidate, meaning it is the final version of the software provided to developers early for testing.

So what happened? In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman offered what he believes to be the most likely explanation. When Apple prepares an update, it merges separate development branches of code, including bug fixes, assets, and features, into the branch that ships to users. It also maintains internal builds containing software support for hardware it hasn't announced yet so that it can be written and tested well ahead of a potential launch.

According to Mark Gurman, one of those internal builds most likely got inadvertently merged into the branch destined for release. As a result, 'something that was supposed to remain inside Apple got tangled up with the shipping software – and made it all the way to the release candidate,' he writes. It suggests someone inside Apple got confused as to which versions they were merging.

All of the product references in macOS Tahoe 26.7 RC had appeared in previous software, but they still go to show that Apple continues to work on several rumored products. Meanwhile, the camera-equipped AirPods aren't expected until 2027, and the hardware shown in the video is believed to be a version that Apple has already shelved in favor of a newer model.