Abstract:
Apple’s future camera version of AirPods may improve the spatial audio experience on the iPhone and other Apple devices by identifying the screen location where the user is viewing. Clues about related functionality recently appeared in the system code of macOS Tahoe 26.7 and were shared by MacRumors forum user Mactracker.
The current AirPods can already achieve spatial audio head tracking with the help of built-in sensors, and the addition of cameras may further enhance this capability. System code shows that camera-equipped AirPods may identify the physical screen on which the user is viewing content and compare the orientation of the screen with the head orientation calculated by the AirPods motion sensor.
The headset is expected to be able to recognize devices such as laptops, monitors, smartphones, tablets and TVs. When the user is using multiple displays at the same time, AirPods may even determine which screen the user is currently looking at and position the audio to the corresponding device. Screen recognition will run in the background, but detection may temporarily stop when the user is mobile.
Currently, devices equipped with Face ID can already use the Face ID sensor to assist spatial audio head tracking. If the user wears AirPods with cameras at the same time, the system will give priority to the information obtained by the headset camera rather than the data from the Face ID sensor.
The system code also mentions server-based visual reasoning capabilities, which further strengthens rumors that the camera version of AirPods will support "visual intelligence." It is said that when the user makes a request related to visual intelligence, AirPods will send the data collected by the camera to Apple's server for processing.
In the macOS Tahoe 26.7 candidate version released in August this year, a large number of unreleased Apple product-related codes appeared, including the camera version of AirPods. Although many codes related to this headset have been found in the system, current rumors suggest that Apple may not officially launch the product until the fall of 2027.
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