Apple launched the AirPods Pro 3 just a few months ago, but it seems that it is already planning the next step forward. According to a series of recent reports and rumors, the company is expected to release later this year a more premium version of the popular headphones, which will include a new and unconventional hardware component: Infrared cameras.
The current AirPods Pro 3 have been praised for improved sound quality and a significant upgrade to active noise cancellation, but according to reports, Apple also sees them as a platform for expanding its artificial intelligence capabilities. The integration of IR cameras is expected to allow the headphones to better understand the user’s environment, as part of what Apple calls Visual Intelligence, a field at the heart of the new Apple Intelligence strategy.
According to Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, external cameras and artificial intelligence will be combined to provide users with information about the world around them, even without looking at the screen. The idea fits into a broader trend at Apple, which aims to make its products more context-aware and sensitive to their surroundings while reducing reliance on the iPhone itself.
Another rumor, published by leaker Instant Digital, claims that the new model may forgo the pressure-sensitive buttons on the stems of the headphones and prefer control through hand gestures. However, Apple may combine both control methods, mainly due to the multitude of functions that currently rely on those buttons.
Beyond that, no significant changes in design or core capabilities of the headphones are expected. This means that the main difference between the models will be in the cameras and AI features, along with a higher price. Similar to the strategy already applied in previous generations, it seems that Apple plans to offer two versions simultaneously, one standard and one advanced, leaving users to choose how far they want to go with the technology.