But not like you think
Daniel Romero / Unsplash
The next AirPods Pro will have built-in cameras.
Yes,cameras, but not how you think.
According to supply-chain supremo Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple’s AirPods are getting infrared cameras.
Apple is already working on your next AirPods.Daniel Romero / Unsplash
These aren’t for stealing surreptitious snaps like you might do with Facebook’s Ray Bans.
“I don’t think additional cameras are necessary for the AirPods Pro at this point.
They’re already packed with useful features like active noise cancellation and hands-free Siri.
Without batteries, earbuds can keep going forever.Rupixen / Unsplash
How “accurate” does Spatial Audio need to be anyway?
More likely is some kind of gesture support.
Imagine waving your hands next to your head to skip tracks, change volume, and so on.
Original AirPods.Barrett Ward / Unsplash
But is this something we really want, or just a way to make a next-gen product stand out?
AirPods Go
Computing is pretty much solved.
Most of our gadgets are already great.
Evenmovie editors prefer laptops these days, they’re more than capable enough.
So why is Apple adding new features that don’t really seem very necessary?
I can come up with two reasons, one of which errs toward the conspiracy-theory end of the spectrum.
First, new features mean new buyers.
They’re tiny, robust computers that resist impact, sweat, and so on.
I have wired earbuds that are decades old and still going strong.
Like I said, it’s a bit of a conspiracy theory, but a plausible one at least.
Whatever the reason, it looks like the next AirPods Pro are on their way.
