Apple Accidentally Leaks Camera-Equipped AirPods in Tahoe 26.7 Release Candidate
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Apple appears to have accidentally leaked its camera-equipped AirPods in a video tucked into the macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate, MacRumors reported. The new AirPods are said to have a camera that can feed low-res imagery to Apple's long-delayed AI Siri assistant, which can then tell the viewer what they're seeing via a new function called Visual Intelligence. They were first tipped by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman back in May.
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The VergeWe may have our first glimpse of Apple’s rumored camera-equipped AirPods, thanks to a video that MacRumors found in the macOS Tahoe 26.7 Release Candidate. The short video clip features a man — who is wearing the new AirPods — holding up a book with the cover displayed, so that Visual Intelligence can see the book title.
GizmodoWhat we can say for certain about this video is… very little. MacRumors says it found it somewhere in a new “release candidate” version of macOS Tahoe, and it’s reasonable to conclude that the AirPods in the video are equipped with at least one camera—or something like a camera. Apple insider Ming-Chi Kuo has been claiming Apple would release something like this since Joe Biden was President, and it very much looks like that prediction could soon come true.
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This is a sensitive matter for Apple. As I wrote last month, anonymously-sourced reporting from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says the company is a bit worried about releasing a smart glasses product, a move that could tarnish its privacy-friendly image. AirPods with cameras—if they existed—would arguably come across as even sneakier than glasses with cameras.
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The VergeGiven those Visual Intelligence features, the AirPods are poised to compete with other camera-equipped AI gadgets like Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, though Apple is also reportedly working on its own smart glasses too. While the AirPods’ cameras “aren’t designed” to snap photos or videos, the stealthy form factor may exacerbate the existing privacy concerns surrounding camera-equipped AI products, following Meta’s “pervert glasses” backlash.
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A few weeks back, Apple released several macOS security updates to address a serious vulnerability within its Screen Sharing tool. At the time, the bug hadn't been spotted in the wild. It was more of a "better safe than sorry" type of thing. Now it's actually been found wreaking havoc in the Netherlands, according to a report by Ars Technica.
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CNETMac users who haven’t installed the latest security updates for their operating system could be in danger of exposure to a major screen-sharing vulnerability. According to researchers in the Netherlands, the exploit has already led to online hacking for cryptocurrency mining.
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According to Apple’s update documentation, the vulnerability could allow an attacker on the network to authenticate to screen sharing without valid credentials. That could mean not only viewing your screen, but also opening up files, spying on private chats and even taking control of your keyboard and mouse or trackpad.
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EngadgetPoC for a critical vulnerability in Apple macOS Screen Sharing (CVE-2026-65400).
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As sites including 9to5Mac and Ars Technica have reported, Apple recently addressed the issue with security updates to its three most recent MacOS versions: Sonoma 14.8.9, Sequoia 15.7.9 and Tahoe 26.6.1.
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EngadgetAs previously mentioned, Apple has already issued software fixes. A software update was recommended back when this vulnerability was, more or less, theoretical. Now it's an absolute necessity. The bug impacts Tahoe, Sequoia and Sonoma, and there are new versions of all three.
6 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 Gizmodo This video, and the book it contains, both raise many questions: Could Apple release something like this? Should it? Might it reconsider? And how many will say “no, don’t release this”?
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02 The Verge The AirPods shown in the new demo clip look like a slightly thicker version of the AirPods Pro 3. That’s what Gurman had predicted, along with longer stems to accommodate the cameras, and LED lights that indicate when data is being uploaded to the cloud. We only get a look at the AirPods from the back in the video, but no lights can be seen on them from that angle.
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03 Wired One of the oddest things about macOS is the installation dance. Dealing with disk images, dragging and dropping—it's the main way of installing software from outside the Mac App Store, and it's annoying.
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04 Engadget This video file came from macOS 26.7 RC pic.twitter.com/yo7RI4MCeu There are some privacy concerns. Though the new AirPods will have a low-resolution view of the world, they're still technically a surveillance device, which may turn off some users. Gurman reports they may have some sort of indicator of when the cameras are active, which would be the minimum for such a wearable.
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05 CNET If you haven’t upgraded to those operating system versions, you may be exposing your system to a loss of control through the screen-sharing function, which allows you to wirelessly mirror or extend your Mac‘s desktop to a TV, tablet or other device’s screen.
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06 TechCrunch An unprecedented number of Apple customers have reported receiving a recent threat notification alerting them to suspected spyware attacks targeting their devices, according to experts who investigate these types of incidents.
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Sources (6)
- verge
- techcrunch
- gizmodo
- wired
- engadget
- cnet