The Next AirPods Pro Could Literally See the World Around You

Earbuds with eyes. That's essentially what Apple appears to be working on for the next AirPods Pro, and the rumour mill is starting to move in a pretty unified direction on this one.

Leaker and prototype collector Kosutami posted on X this week with a brief but telling message: the next AirPods Pro will be able to "see around you." No lengthy breakdown, no technical deep-dive. Just that, plus the note that the price will stay the same. Short and to the point.

The "see around you" part almost certainly refers to cameras embedded directly in each earbud, which sounds like science fiction until you realise supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has been saying this is coming since 2024. Specifically, Kuo flagged that the 2026 AirPods Pro will get a "more significant" hardware upgrade in the form of at least one tiny infrared camera per bud. Those IR cameras, per Kuo, would enable hand gesture recognition and deliver a more immersive spatial audio experience when paired with Apple's Vision Pro headset.

That's a genuinely interesting use case. If your earbuds understand the physical space around you, spatial audio stops being a rough approximation and becomes something far more precise.

A second leaker, the Chinese source known as "Instant Digital," also backed up the infrared camera claims with some added context. According to them, the 2026 model might not be a straight generational successor. Instead, it could launch as a higher-end variant sitting alongside the existing AirPods Pro 3, similar to how Apple sells two tiers of the AirPods 4 at different price points. Whether Apple brands it as an "AirPods Pro 4" or something else entirely remains unclear.

Worth noting: Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also raised the possibility of IR cameras in AirPods back in March 2025, so this isn't just coming from one corner of the rumour space.

The pricing question is where things get a bit murky. Kosutami says the camera-equipped model will hold at $249, which feels optimistic given the additional hardware involved. Apple Insider points out that a price jump makes more sense if this is indeed a premium variant rather than a replacement. Other reports suggest it could land closer to $299. Nobody seems entirely sure.

The release timing is equally vague. Apple typically unveils new AirPods alongside iPhones in the autumn, so a fall 2026 window seems most likely. That said, bringing out a new AirPods Pro model in 2026 would be unusually quick. Apple historically waits around three years between major hardware revisions for AirPods, and the Pro 3 only launched in 2025.

It's a lot of sources pointing in the same direction, which does give this one more weight than your average X post leak. Whether the cameras are primarily for Vision Pro integration, Apple Intelligence-style environmental awareness, or both, earbuds that understand the space around you represent a pretty different direction for the product line.

Apple hasn't said a word, obviously. But autumn isn't that far away.