Apple plans cameras on AirPods and Apple Watch to feed on-device AI

If you don't love the idea of wearing smart glasses just to talk to an AI assistant, Apple is exploring a very different path: putting eyes on your wrists and ears.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple is actively developing versions of AirPods and the Apple Watch that incorporate cameras, with a potential launch targeted for around 2027.

Custom chips named Nevis and Glennie

Building this hardware requires dedicated silicon. Apple has developed a custom chip codenamed "Nevis" for the camera-equipped Apple Watch, alongside a chip codenamed "Glennie" specifically for the new AirPods.

Apple is aiming to get both chips ready by around 2027. If production stays on track and they are available early enough that year, the products could hit shelves that same year.

Placement will vary across devices. A future standard Apple Watch could integrate a camera into the screen area, while a rugged Apple Watch Ultra might feature a lens placed near the Digital Crown.

Visual data for AI, not your photo library

These tiny sensors are not intended for snapping vacation photos or taking FaceTime calls. Instead, their entire purpose is feeding real-time visual data directly into on-device AI features.

On the Apple Watch, the cameras will power Visual Intelligence capabilities, letting users query information about their physical surroundings and receive personalized navigation directions.

AirPods have an equally interesting trajectory. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously noted that Apple explored adding infrared cameras to AirPods to boost spatial audio experiences when paired with the Vision Pro, while also enabling in-air gesture control. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also suggested these earbud cameras will primarily feed environmental data to Apple's AI.

Why it matters

While Meta and others are going all-in on smart glasses to give AI a first-person view of the world, Apple looks to be playing a much smarter distribution game. Millions of people already wear an Apple Watch and AirPods every single day without having to adopt prescription frames or bulky shades. Piggybacking multimodal sensors onto existing, beloved form factors could lower the barrier to ambient AI significantly.

However, the trade-offs are massive. Squeezing image sensors, thermals, and processing hardware into tiny earbuds and slim watch bodies pushes battery chemistry to its absolute limits.

Then comes the surveillance anxiety. People are already uncomfortable with cameras in unexpected places. Even if Apple restricts these lenses to local on-device machine learning rather than photo capture, convincing the public that their watch and earbuds aren't secretly filming them will be a steep uphill battle.