Apple's AI accessories are reportedly to give the iPhone eyes
The company's upcoming AI products are said to capture the surroundings with cameras, serving as a convenient input device for Apple's AI.
(Image: Sebastian Trepesch / heise medien)
At the heart of Apple's planned AI hardware are obviously cameras: According to a report, the manufacturer plans to make "Visual Intelligence" – an AI analysis of the user's physical environment – a main component of its products. This is reported by Mark Gurman, who is usually intimately familiar with Apple's internal plans, in his Bloomberg newsletter.
According to the information, Apple is currently working on three AI accessories: smart glasses (without a display) modeled after Meta's Ray-Ban sunglasses, an AI pendant or clip-on, and an AirPods variant with an integrated camera system. The first of these AI products could be market-ready by the end of the year, it was said.
Tim Cook focuses on "Visual Intelligence"
The cameras could enable functions such as food recognition or more detailed navigation instructions related to the physical environment, Gurman explains. Furthermore, it is conceivable that the technology could remind users of something when they look at a particular object, for example.
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Visual Intelligence is a niche feature of Apple Intelligence that was originally only available on the iPhone 16. Apple initially advertised the feature by saying that users could, for example, photograph a dog while walking and find out its breed via AI – instead of simply asking the confused dog owner standing nearby. With iOS 26, the feature came to other iPhones and analyzes not only the live camera image but also, optionally, screenshots and thus practically any screen content. However, Apple Intelligence only contributes basic functions here; advanced image analysis is handled by ChatGPT or Google's image search instead. Installed third-party apps can also offer search services via this.
Apple Intelligence requires fundamental overhaul
Speaking to financial analysts, Apple CEO Tim Cook recently pointed directly to the feature, saying it is one of the most popular functions of Apple Intelligence, according to Cook. Gurman believes the CEO would not publicly emphasize the function so much if it were not being worked on with high pressure. After much criticism and hitherto unfulfilled Siri improvements, Apple is currently trying to put its AI on new footing. Google Gemini is to provide a more solid basis for Apple Intelligence in the future.
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