A leaker with a fair but short track record, claims that Apple has suspended work on the expected AirPods with cameras.
Back in February 2026, leaker Kosutami claimed that AirPods with cameras were coming, and that they would stay the same price as current models. Now the same leaker is back saying that Apple has suspended the whole idea.
That's literally all this routinely brief leaker says. Reposting a previous claim about the device from June 2026 that said just "case concluded," Kosutami has now responded with the single word "Suspended."
It follows a late June 2026 report from Bloomberg that said the device was in the advanced stages of testing. It was said that Apple might not release AirPods with cameras in 2026, but that they were close.
The idea as first described in 2004 by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, is that AirPods, or more likely AirPods Pro, would feature miniature cameras in the stems. So when worn in the ear, the camera would face forward.
Then if a user asked Siri for information about something in front of them, the cameras could take a still image, or record video footage. That could then be analyzed by Visual Intelligence.
With no further information at all, there can only be speculation over why Apple would suspend the device. If it has, perhaps it's a consequence of the global chip shortage and Apple prioritizing other devices.
Or perhaps it's to do with the still unanswered question over privacy. Apple would be expected to put some kind of indicator light on the AirPods to show that images were being recorded, but there's no confirmation of that.
Kosutami is better known as a collector of prototype Apple devices, though they have also shared inaccurate leaks about the Apple Watch.
