Thursday May 7, 2026 11:53 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple's upcoming camera-equipped AirPods Pro are nearing completion and have reached an "advanced" testing stage, reports Bloomberg. The design is almost finalized, as is the feature set, and early mass production could begin soon.

The AirPods Pro will have built-in cameras that will feed visual information about the wearer's surroundings to Siri. While there will be a longer stem for the camera in each AirPod, the device will otherwise look similar to the AirPods Pro 3.
The cameras in the AirPods will not be able to take photos or videos, and will solely be used for AI purposes. A small LED light will illuminate when the AirPods are sending visual information to Siri.
Apple wants users to be able to look at an item and ask Siri questions about it, working similarly to image uploads in chatbot apps. The cameras could also offer reminders based on visual information, and give more detailed turn-by-turn directions by viewing what's around the wearer.
The Camera app in iOS 27 is also set to get a Siri mode that incorporates Visual Intelligence, letting users do things like scan nutrition labels on food packaging for calorie tracking.
Apple wanted to start selling the camera-equipped AirPods Pro in the first half of 2026, but the product's launch has been held back because the smarter, AI version of Siri is not yet ready to be released. The new Siri is set to be introduced in September in iOS 27, macOS 27, and iPadOS 27, so we could see the AirPods Pro launch sometime in that same timeframe.
Apple could also opt to wait to launch the AirPods if it is not satisfied with the quality of the Visual Intelligence features planned for Siri.
It is not yet clear how the new AirPods will fit into Apple's lineup. Rumors suggest Apple does not intend to brand them as the "AirPods Pro 4," and they could instead be referred to as the AirPods Ultra, or perhaps AirPods Pro 3 With Cameras.
Tuesday April 21, 2026 9:44 am PDT by Juli Clover
Sony refreshed its earbuds earlier this year, introducing the $330 WF-1000XM6 earbuds to compete with the $249 AirPods Pro 3 that came out last September. We compared Sony's new earbuds with Apple's latest model to see which is better. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Sony's XM6 earbuds are smaller than the AirPods Pro 3 because there's no stem, but the in-ear fit...
Wednesday April 22, 2026 2:34 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple is working on a new version of the AirPods Pro, which could come as soon as this year. The AirPods are expected to be a variant of the current AirPods Pro, which suggests they won't be called the AirPods Pro 4. Cameras Multiple sources have said Apple is developing AirPods Pro that have tiny infrared cameras. The cameras won't be used to take photos or videos like an iPhone camera,...
In a social media post this week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that Apple is planning to release new AirPods with cameras "for Siri." Last month, Gurman said these AirPods will likely be priced above the current AirPods Pro 3, which Apple sells for $249. As a result, he said Apple is likely considering using "AirPods Ultra" branding for the camera-equipped AirPods. "AirPods Ultra"...