Will Apple Equip the Next AirPods Pro with a Camera?

TECH NEWS – With this move, the Cupertino-based tech giant hopes to compete with Meta in the wearable devices market.

 

The company is equipping several of its new devices, including the next AirPods Pro, with cameras to gradually expand their artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. Apple hopes this will halt Meta‘s unstoppable advance in the wearable AI segment. According to Bloomberg editor Mark Gurman, Apple has been working on the innovative design of the AirPods Pro for some time, aiming to equip the customized earphones with a camera. Gurman says the new AirPods Pro could be in consumers’ hands as early as this year. They will complement the trio of AI-based devices, which includes smart glasses and an AI pendant, and will compete with Meta‘s Ray-Ban smart glasses.

Notably, prolific Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously indicated that Apple was developing AirPods Pro with IR cameras in 2024. Furthermore, last July, Apple was granted a patent for using cameras similar to the Face ID dot projector in proximity sensors and 3D depth mapping applications. This offers exciting possibilities for the rumored earbuds.

Recently, an interesting theory linked Apple‘s acquisition of Q.ai with rumors of AirPods Pro equipped with IR cameras. The theory assumes that the IR camera would enable the earphones to accurately understand quiet speech or whispering by analyzing microscopic facial expressions using Q.ai technology.

This also shows that manufacturers are striving to incorporate artificial intelligence into almost every area. Smart glasses are just the beginning, and AI may appear in more and more hardware in the future. While it may seem strange to put a camera in earphones, their size and weight could be even more distracting. We are curious about the cost because a camera can significantly increase the price of a device. Additionally, there’s the “Apple tax,” as the company’s products are always more expensive than those of its rivals.

Source: WCCFTech, Bloomberg

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Anikó, our news editor and communication manager, is more interested in the business side of the gaming industry. She worked at banks, and she has a vast knowledge of business life. Still, she likes puzzle and story-oriented games, like Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments, which is her favourite title. She also played The Sims 3, but after accidentally killing a whole sim family, swore not to play it again. (For our office address, email and phone number check out our IMPRESSUM)

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