Apple Versus the Glassholes
The first thing you'll notice is that there is no phone. The second thing you'll notice is that there. is. no. phone.
It's not just that Apple leaked a codename or numeric reference to the long-rumored AirPods with cameras1 – which I hope they call 'EyePods' but probably something like 'AirPods Vision' or 'AirPods Ultra' is far more likely2 – they inadvertently leaked a video in the release candidate build of macOS 26.7. Yes, not even the new, still-in-beta 'Golden Gate' version of the OS, but the soon-to-be upgraded 'Tahoe' variant. Someone is likely to be in a lot of trouble.
Because yes, the 13-second video very clearly shows a man in a room pick up a book as a voiceover says "with Visual Intelligence, your world becomes savable". When I type that out, it makes it sound like this guy might be trying to save the world from disaster. But what he's actually doing is visually capturing the book in front of him so he can recall it later. "See something you like? Just ask me to save it for later," a voice which is clearly intended to be Siri says. The man nods and the video fades out...
Visual Intelligence, of course, is nothing new. I've long held that it was one of the most underrated aspects of the iPhone, dating back to when Apple first tried to launch Apple Intelligence two years ago. But it was a bit buried. With iOS 27, it will be baked directly into the all-important Camera app.
But again, the difference here in this video is that there is no iPhone.
And again, that heavily implies that what the man is actually using to capture the book are the AirPods that he's clearly wearing. At first glance, they don't look different from the current AirPods Pro. But the forensic experts on Xitter seem to think there are subtle differences in the stems. This is obviously where any camera component would likely go.3
So yeah, not only are these 'EyePods' coming, they're very likely coming soon. As in, probably set to be unveiled at the iPhone event in just a few short weeks. That's exciting because it's going to shift Apple into a whole new era. While Apple has long held a leading position in wearables, this will be their first true AI wearable.
While a lot of the focus has been on the potential for Apple entering the smart glasses space to meet Meta in market, using the AirPods as their first entry point actually makes a ton of sense.
First and foremost, the AirPods are already an insanely popular product. While people made fun of how they looked at first – for the record, I always thought they were ingenious – they're now ubiquitous. You literally can't go anywhere with a crowd without seeing many pairs tucked into peoples' ears. It's true in America, it's true in Europe. They're everywhere. They're mainstream.
Contrast this with the Ray-Ban Meta glasses. I've seen a few pairs while out and about this Summer, but it's obviously not in the same ballpark. Estimates have these glasses perhaps around 10 million sold to date. Apple has sold over 400 million AirPods to date, perhaps closer to 500 million.
It's not meant to be a fair sales comparison as AirPods have been both around longer and sell at lower price points, but the comparison matters when it comes to rolling out AI wearables into the world. Meta smartly partnered with EssilorLuxottica to leverage the Ray-Ban (and later Oakley) brand (and distribution), but these are not Apple-scale hardware. At least not yet.
But Meta's partnership was also smart in perhaps a similar way to the playbook Apple will clearly run here. Ray-Ban Meta glasses look like Ray-Bans. AirPods with cameras, at least from what we can see here, look like AirPods.
That obviously matters as both companies try to negate the "Glasshole" problem. That is, when Google Glass first started rolling out over a decade ago, they didn't look like anything else on the market. They were a sort of visor with a prism in the corner where information was displayed. On paper, this sounded cool – futuristic. In person... well, you sort of looked like an asshole.
That's both not fair and entirely fair. If they simply looked weird, that would be one thing – again, the AirPods looked weird to many people to start. But the fact that they had a camera on them was, well, a problem.
The Ray-Ban Metas also obviously have cameras, but thanks to the aforementioned use of the standard, iconic Ray-Ban designs, the system is far more subtle. This is an arguably bigger problem for people who care about privacy and potential surveillance, but at least the design isn't as in-your-face as Google Glass was. People like 'new' except when it comes to merging new design with new technology. Better to start with old design and new technology.
Again, that's also what it seems like Apple is doing here with AirPods. We'll have to see what they look like from the front, but the fact that the overall footprint isn't wildly different suggests they'll be far more subtle in the wild. Had Apple started with smart glasses, unless perhaps they also teamed up with a famous eyewear brand, the result would be far more in-your-face, quite literally.
Instead, when those first Apple smart glasses – iGlasses? – hit next year, the market should have about a year of getting used to Apple's first AI wearables – with cameras – in the market in the form of these new AirPods. That doesn't mean there won't be backlash against Apple's entry, but it certainly will help to blunt the potential impact.
One of the most surprising elements of the Ray-Ban Metas (still such an awkward name to write and say) has been that there hasn't been a ton of backlash to date. Again, credit for Meta for knowing to partner with EssilorLuxottica here. But as the sales are growing – and as Meta does Meta things – the backlash is growing. To the point where I wouldn't be shocked if Apple further pushes out their own smart glasses offerings to try to distance themselves from any would-be controversy.
Oh and by the way, it's not just the cameras. It's the cameras mixed with the other currently most controversial technology in the world: AI.
The Ray-Ban Metas launched as more of a cameras-plus-music thing, and that perhaps also helped ease any controversy. But as Meta has ramped up their AI efforts, the tech is becoming more of a focal point with the glasses too, which is naturally aiding in ramping any controversy surrounding them. Apple will seemingly be going head-first into such controversy with the AI focus from day one. Sorry, I mean 'Apple Intelligence' – or 'Visual Intelligence' not AI, totally different, you see.
There had been some talk that these AirPods with cameras wouldn't actually be able to take pictures (or video) but instead would simply be to "look" at the world in real time. This video seems to negate that notion – or, at the very least, it suggests the cameras are used to look at and remember an object, even if it doesn't take an actual picture. (But I assume it will take a picture.) Video might be off the table though, even if just at first. Maybe Apple enables this as people grow more comfortable with such devices out in the wild.
To that end, when these AirPods with cameras are pulling in information, surely there will be some sort of indicator? A light on the stems, perhaps? That might be slightly weird as you don't have such an indicator on the back of your phone, but again, this is about establishing new norms and trying to help people be at ease around this new technology.
Apple, of course, has a natural advantage here in that they're generally viewed as the most privacy-centric of the Big Tech players. They'll undoubtedly note that any data ingested by these devices will be either securely handled on-device (presumably on your iPhone) or, if you choose, via their secure cloud set-up. They're going to triple-down on any privacy messaging here.
Meta, on the other hand, is undoubtedly last on the Big Tech trust scale. Again, it's sort of incredible that the Ray-Ban Metas are working at all...
But Apple still runs a real risk here in launching not just a wearable with cameras, but one entirely built around AI. This is walking right into the lion's den. Perhaps not wearing Google Glass, but still, there's some real Glasshole risk here. Which is why the AirPods are the right first step to take.
M.G. Siegler
M.G. Siegler
M.G. Siegler
1 Something which they've also been doing plenty of here as well! ↩
2 We know John Ternus isn't afraid to shake things up a bit – even branding-wise, with things like the MacBook Neo, so perhaps we get a new sub-brand here? 'AirPods Neo'? 'AirPods See'? 'AirPods Intelligence'? 'AIrPods'? ↩
3 Though I suppose it's possible they're at end of of the AirPods' main bulb? ↩
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