Key takeaways
- Apple supplier TCB Devices confirmed in its third quarter 2026 report that it works on Apple’s AI glasses and “new smart earphone” projects.
- Apple’s first glasses are expected in late 2027 with no display, and AirPods with a camera in each earbud are planned for 2027.
- My view: earbuds whose cameras wake up whenever people talk around you are a spy we buy ourselves, and strangers pay for it with their privacy.
Chinese supplier TCB Devices wrote in its third quarter 2026 report that it took part in Apple’s “AI glasses and new smart earphone projects.” Apple’s first glasses are expected in late 2027 without a display, and AirPods with a low resolution camera in each earbud are planned for 2027.
In this article: This reads like a horror script · Siri gets eyes. What for? · And the privacy of other people? · Glasses without a display in 2027? Apple can’t keep up · I won’t buy them · FAQ
This reads like a horror script
What we are reading now looks more like a horror movie than a product. According to code found in a macOS test build in August, the cameras have a passive mode that switches on by itself: when someone speaks nearby, when you turn your head, when the sounds around you change. So when will it ever be off?
People talk at work. People talk on the street, in the metro, in a café, everywhere. At home the TV is on, or you listen to a podcast. I don’t believe these cameras will switch on “just sometimes”. The way I see it, that promise is fake, because otherwise the whole thing makes no sense. They will run almost nonstop.
Siri gets eyes. What for?
Apple says the cameras won’t take photos or videos, they only give Siri “context”. Context? Like a live broadcast? So now Siri will have its own eyes, like a human. I don’t get the point at all, and that’s exactly what scares me.
The “no photos” part doesn’t hold up either. The same code shows the earbuds capture images, 640 by 640 pixels in active mode and 320 by 320 in passive mode. AI is smart, but it needs something to read the context from. A small snapshot every time someone speaks is still a picture of someone. Apple just doesn’t call it a photo.
And who reads those pictures? Siri’s new brain comes from Google’s Gemini, as I wrote yesterday. Even if Apple says the data is under control, I won’t believe it.
And the privacy of other people?
This is the part that really gets on my nerves. I’m in the metro, the person next to me wears these AirPods, and my phone call is exactly the “ambient speech” that wakes up their camera. My face, my moment, sent to Siri as “context”. For God’s sake, context? Since when does Apple allow this?
Yes, the earbud has a small privacy light. Under someone’s hair, in a crowded carriage, who will see it? It’s a total spy that we buy ourselves, and on top of that we put the privacy of strangers at risk. I already didn’t want a camera following me around my own home. Now the camera follows me into the metro, in someone else’s ears.
Glasses without a display in 2027? Apple can’t keep up
Apple’s first glasses will have speakers, microphones and cameras, but no display, and they arrive at the end of 2027. To me that only confirms that Apple can’t keep up anymore. Meta has sold camera glasses for years and already sells a pair with a display. In my opinion, the market is about four generations ahead of Apple.
Apple, did you even know what your competitors have right now? More and more people say Apple will never catch up with the speed the market has today. Glasses with Siri and no display are, to me, just one more pair of earphones on your nose, only with a bigger price. That part I’m sure about.
For a company with this much money, it’s embarrassing. It’s high time Apple invented something completely new, instead of always starting with what is already on the market.
I won’t buy them
I will certainly not buy earbuds with cameras. Understand this: soon there will be almost no privacy left. They will know everything about us. That is frightening, and it’s not good. Today a person can’t just walk around and feel at ease anymore.
Also on Evolt News: A $1,000 HomeView That Turns to Watch You? A $25 Tripod Already Does That · Five Days Ago, Siri Agents Had to Wait for “Security.” Now Apple Is in a Panic · Gemini Is Now in CarPlay. Siri Already Runs on Google. Now Google Doesn’t Need Siri
Featured image: a frame from Apple’s own AirPods with cameras video, found in a macOS 26.7 test build by Aaron Perris.
This article is opinion.
AirPods with cameras and Apple glasses: FAQ
Which supplier confirmed Apple’s AI glasses?
TCB Devices, a Chinese precision assembly firm, in its third quarter 2026 report. It said it took part in Apple’s AI glasses and new smart earphone projects.
When will Apple glasses come out?
Reports point to late 2027.
Will the first Apple glasses have a display?
No. They are expected to have cameras, microphones and speakers for Siri and Visual Intelligence, without any display.
When will AirPods with cameras launch?
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says 2027.
What turns on the cameras in passive mode?
Code found in a macOS test build lists ambient speech, a change in the sound around you, head rotation, a posture change and leaving a set area.
Can AirPods with cameras take photos?
Not for the user, according to Bloomberg. But the code shows they capture small images, 640 by 640 or 320 by 320 pixels, for Siri.
Do camera AirPods have a privacy light?
Yes. The code shows an indicator light that turns on while images are captured.
Sources: AppleInsider, iFeng, 9to5Mac, Bloomberg, Macworld.
Our Take
Apple wants to give Siri eyes that open on their own whenever someone speaks nearby: in the metro, in a café, at home in front of the TV. Whatever Apple calls it, it’s a camera pointed at people who never agreed to it.
And with display-free glasses arriving in late 2027, Apple isn’t leading this market. It’s following it, at a higher price.
