Apple’s 2027 Plan: AirPods With Cameras and a Second Foldable iPhone

Now that WWDC is behind us and Apple has laid out its AI roadmap for the next couple of years, the rumor mill is shifting to the hardware that’ll actually run that stuff. Mark Gurman dropped some fresh details this week, and there’s a couple of items worth paying attention to.

First up: those camera-equipped AirPods he mentioned before. According to his sources, they’re still on schedule for a late 2027 launch. That’s a long way off, but the interesting part is that Apple is already testing them internally with iOS 28 — the update that’ll ship in fall 2027. So if you’re running the iOS 27 beta this fall, don’t expect any surprises. The real work is happening a year ahead.

The cameras will sit in the stems, with a small light to indicate when data is being uploaded to the cloud. The idea is to give Siri — or whatever they call the upgraded version by then — visual context about your surroundings. You’re walking down the street, the AirPods see a restaurant you like, Siri pipes up with a reservation reminder. That kind of thing. It’s a natural extension of the “ambient computing” concept Apple has been flirting with for years, but it also raises the usual privacy questions. The indicator light is a start, but trust will be the real hurdle.

Then there’s the second folding iPhone. Gurman says Apple is still working on it, targeting a 2027 launch as well. The first foldable — reportedly a larger device, more like a tablet that folds into a phone — is expected sooner, possibly 2026. The second one is said to be a more traditional clamshell design, similar to the Galaxy Z Flip. That’s the one I’m more interested in, honestly. The big foldable feels like a niche product for early adopters, but a compact foldable could actually have mainstream appeal if Apple gets the thickness and battery life right.

Both products are clearly part of Apple’s broader push to make AI feel less like a feature and more like an ambient layer. The AirPods with cameras are the most obvious example: instead of pulling out your phone to ask Siri something, the earbuds just know. That’s the dream, anyway. Whether the hardware can deliver that without feeling creepy or clunky is another matter.

I’ll believe the 2027 timeline when I see it. Apple has a habit of delaying hardware that pushes into new territory — remember the AirPower? — so I wouldn’t be surprised if these slip. But the direction is clear. Apple is betting that the next big interface shift isn’t a new screen size or a faster chip, but a device that watches and listens without you having to think about it.