Gurman: Airpods with cameras close to ready

[Cmaier]

According to this (paywall-removed) Gurman article, Apple’s new Airpods with cameras are almost ready.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-07/apple-s-camera-equipped-airpods-reach-advanced-testing-stage-in-ai-device-push?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc3ODE3ODI0MywiZXhwIjoxNzc4NzgzMDQzLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJURUpCRUFUOU5KTFQwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJBMDdGRjZGMzlBOTY0NzREOTNBQkFGRjUyQjBBQTE2NiJ9.yfx3UQcYmtUU9d_xJyljvF-0hEpmwQcX_1MPbLjPSQc&leadSource=uverify%20wall

The use cases he recites seem…uncompelling?

 

[Eric]

The use cases he recites seem…uncompelling?

At the very least they'll surely be delivering ads based on both what they see and hear. Just another tool to shamelessly spy on you.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Again, just like with the reemergence of smart glasses, when did people stop being concerned about covertly being filmed whenever they are in public? At least when it's done with a smart phone people are aware the phone is being pointed at them so it's a possibility. Is it just a matter of it being inevitable so fuck it?

But I could see where this would be helpful with protests or government abuse.

 

[Eric]

Again, just like with the reemergence of smart glasses, when did people stop being concerned about covertly being filmed whenever they are in public? At least when it's done with a smart phone people are aware the phone is being pointed at them so it's a possibility. Is it just a matter of it being inevitable so fuck it?

But I could see where this would be helpful with protests or government abuse.

I think it's that concern that has kept any of these products to takeoff. They really need to come up with a way to make these devices less invasive, maybe DuckDuckGo should get into the wearables.

 

[Cmaier]

Again, just like with the reemergence of smart glasses, when did people stop being concerned about covertly being filmed whenever they are in public? At least when it's done with a smart phone people are aware the phone is being pointed at them so it's a possibility. Is it just a matter of it being inevitable so fuck it?

But I could see where this would be helpful with protests or government abuse.

FWIW, these are supposedly low resolution and you can’t view or save any images. Just for use with asking the AI questions about what you are looking at, they claim (and recognizing hand gestures, supposedly).

I can see this as a back door to get people used to it for the future glasses. If people are used to airpods with cameras that don’t save images, don’t send images off device (where “device” = connected device, I assume), and therefore can’t be used to target ads, to surreptitiously record, etc., then glasses with similar cameras may be more socially acceptable.

 

[Eric]

FWIW, these are supposedly low resolution and you can’t view or save any images. Just for use with asking the AI questions about what you are looking at, they claim (and recognizing hand gestures, supposedly).

I can see this as a back door to get people used to it for the future glasses. If people are used to airpods with cameras that don’t save images, don’t send images off device (where “device” = connected device, I assume), and therefore can’t be used to target ads, to surreptitiously record, etc., then glasses with similar cameras may be more socially acceptable.

It's just trusting them not to use the information they see or hear to deliver you ads, it's currently a shameless wild west of zero protections for consumers.

 

[Herdfan]

FWIW, these are supposedly low resolution and you can’t view or save any images.

Just because we can't doesn't mean they won't.

 

[Cmaier]

Just because we can't doesn't mean they won't.

If apple says they aren’t going to, I trust them. They’re the only big tech company doing anything about privacy, and so far they’ve been pretty honest about things.

 

[Herdfan]

If apple says they aren’t going to, I trust them. They’re the only big tech company doing anything about privacy, and so far they’ve been pretty honest about things.

I see where you are coming from, but they still allow companies such as FB/X/IG/ etc. to use their mic to record us so we can be marketed to. If they want to prove to me they are really looking out for the consumer, then they need to stop allowing this practice.

 

[Cmaier]

I see where you are coming from, but they still allow companies such as FB/X/IG/ etc. to use their mic to record us so we can be marketed to. If they want to prove to me they are really looking out for the consumer, then they need to stop allowing this practice.

If it’s actually happening and they know about it, I’m sure they are trying to do something about it. That said, I still don’t believe it is happening. For a project at work, I had to investigate whether certain devices/apps are sending certain data off-device in response to sounds.

We bought a hardware packet sniffer and I spent a lot of time with wireshark and a $1000/hour expert figuring out what was going on. I definitely found one company’s hardware sending data off-device in response to sounds (and, luckily, I don’t use any devices from that company).

I never found that an iOS device running any app ever engaged in *any* network activity in response to sound, and that was what we were looking for. And given that the mic indicator light is hardware-tied to the mic in such a way that it should be impossible for an app to use the mic without the indicator going on, it’s going to take a lot more than anecdotes to convince me that it is happening, especially when wireshark tells me otherwise.

If there’s no orange dot, apps are not listening to you.

 

[Eric]

I would like to trust them but none of them openly admit to listening in yet someone is still clearly doing it. I’ve turned everything off on my mic security settings and with nothing else in earshot have still gotten ads based on conversations.

 

[Herdfan]

I never found that an iOS device running any app ever engaged in *any* network activity in response to sound, and that was what we were looking for. And given that the mic indicator light is hardware-tied to the mic in such a way that it should be impossible for an app to use the mic without the indicator going on, it’s going to take a lot more than anecdotes to convince me that it is happening, especially when wireshark tells me otherwise.

If there’s no orange dot, apps are not listening to you.

I would like to trust them but none of them openly admit to listening in yet someone is still clearly doing it. I’ve turned everything off on my mic security settings and with nothing else in earshot have still gotten ads based on conversations.

Cliff, try this. Go out away from anyone else except you and your wife. There are lots of hiking trails up there, go on a walk far away from anyone else. Tell your wife you need to buy some iguana food (don't use iguana since it might pick it up from this thread if you use your phone to read this page) but you get the idea. Just say you need to pick something you would never buy and have never bought.

Within a couple of days, you will get ads for it.

 

[Cmaier]

Cliff, try this. Go out away from anyone else except you and your wife. There are lots of hiking trails up there, go on a walk far away from anyone else. Tell your wife you need to buy some iguana food (don't use iguana since it might pick it up from this thread if you use your phone to read this page) but you get the idea. Just say you need to pick something you would never buy and have never bought.

Within a couple of days, you will get ads for it.

no i won’t. It’s never happened. I’ve never gotten ads for anything suspicious based on conversations with anyone. Based on text on web pages and the like? yep. Sound? nope.

Nor has my wife. Nor, she says, has my daughter.

I have a house full of apple devices. we all have iphones, ipads, macs. There are four apple tv’s in use. 5 homepods. Never once have I seen an ad based on anything anyone said.

Now, go to the facebook app and pause too long on something in the feed, or search for something in google, then, yeah, I see ads for that everywhere.

I firmly believe it is physically impossible for an iphone app to listen to the mic without the orange dot turning on. it’s handled at the secure enclave level, so unless you jailbreak your phone, it ain’t happening.

 

[Eric]

Cliff, try this. Go out away from anyone else except you and your wife. There are lots of hiking trails up there, go on a walk far away from anyone else. Tell your wife you need to buy some iguana food (don't use iguana since it might pick it up from this thread if you use your phone to read this page) but you get the idea. Just say you need to pick something you would never buy and have never bought.

Within a couple of days, you will get ads for it.

Yeah someone is misleading us, either Apple or app developers that listen when they say they are not. This is where we would trust Apple's security to ensure they can't cheat it when the mic is turned off in the security settings somehow but it's clearly not working, at least on my end and I have several verifiable instances where I know nothing else could've been listening on items I've also never texted or googled.

 

[rdrr]

I cannot wait for them to tell me I need to see the ENT for my ear wax clean out.

 

[Herdfan]

I cannot wait for them to tell me I need to see the ENT for my ear wax clean out.

You are so going to get an ad for Debrox. LOL

 

[rdrr]

You are so going to get an ad for Debrox. LOL

Unfortunately I need "professional" help.

 

[Andropov]

If it’s actually happening and they know about it, I’m sure they are trying to do something about it. That said, I still don’t believe it is happening. For a project at work, I had to investigate whether certain devices/apps are sending certain data off-device in response to sounds.

We bought a hardware packet sniffer and I spent a lot of time with wireshark and a $1000/hour expert figuring out what was going on. I definitely found one company’s hardware sending data off-device in response to sounds (and, luckily, I don’t use any devices from that company).

Hah, that must've been quite the challenge. When I updated my AirPort Express to a UniFi router, I got a glimpse of how much data wireless clients were sending to the internet (and back) and I was shocked by how chatty modern devices are, even when the screen has been off for a while. Can't imagine needing to categorize the source of all that traffic.

Personally I attribute all these instances of unexplainable accurate ads to a combination of good predictive algorithms (e.g. if you've seen "A" & "B" recently, you may be statistically inclined to be interested in "C" too, even though "C" may seem totally unrelated to neither "A" nor "B") plus the fact that you're way more likely to notice an add if you're actually interested in it / it's relevant to you. I've seen ads for random stuff I had thought about but never talked about to anyone too.

 

[Roller]

Cliff, try this. Go out away from anyone else except you and your wife. There are lots of hiking trails up there, go on a walk far away from anyone else. Tell your wife you need to buy some iguana food (don't use iguana since it might pick it up from this thread if you use your phone to read this page) but you get the idea. Just say you need to pick something you would never buy and have never bought.

Within a couple of days, you will get ads for it.

I may try this just to see what happens. It’s not uncommon for Siri to activate on my phone in response to something I said, but I think of that as different than what we’re talking about here.

It would certainly be horrible if my devices could be intercepting conversations without my knowledge or consent. I doubt that is happening, but it’s a scary thought in a country where the government is targeting people for what is supposed to be constitutionally-protected speech, especially in private settings.