Apple is ‘accelerating’ work on AI pendants, smart glasses, and updated AirPods

Apple may be gearing up for its most important wearables pivot since the launch of the Apple Watch, accelerating development on three AI-powered devices: smart glasses, improved AirPods, and a new wearable pendant.

That’s according to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, which suggests the Cupertino giant is looking to advance existing AI hardware with devices that could act as the “eyes and ears” of a revamped Siri.

While Apple’s smart glasses and camera-equipped AirPods are already rumored to be arriving in the next 18 months, the report adds further details to a January report that Apple was in the early stages of making a ‘pin’.

Gurman notes that Apple is working to allow users to wear the patent with a clip attached to clothing or with a necklace that goes through a hole in the hardware.

The eyes and ears of the iPhone

The device, which early internal discussions reportedly describe as roughly the size of an AirTag and close to the computing power of AirPods, will represent Apple’s answer to the AI ​​chip category that was occupied by the Humane AI Pin and, perhaps soon, the OpenAI ‘Sweetpea’ wearable.

However, unlike the ill-fated Humane project, Apple is not expected to replace the phone with a pendant. In fact, Gurman suggests that it is currently designed to rely heavily on the iPhone for processing.

Instead, it is suggested that the wearable is developed as an iPhone accessory, which acts as an always-on smartphone camera and includes a microphone to input Siri.

This will allow Siri to understand what the user is looking at—whether that’s groceries or an event poster on the wall—without the user needing to take their phone out of their pocket.

Work continues on Apple’s smart glasses and infrared AirPods

Closer to the hangar, Apple is rapidly developing its smart glasses—codenamed N50—and targeting production in early December 2026, with a public release in 2027.

Following in the footsteps blazed by the successful Meta Ray-Bans, Apple’s glasses will reportedly ditch the display in favor of a smaller, premium frame made from materials like acrylic. The hardware will feature a dual camera system: one high-definition lens for capturing media and a second dedicated computer vision sensor for measuring distance and identifying landmarks for real-world navigation.

To complete this strategy the new AirPods are equipped with infrared cameras, which, as previous rumors have suggested, could arrive at the beginning of this September.

Could we see an Apple pendant this year?

It is important to remember that this is still a roadmap report at this stage. As Gurman points out, product development in Cupertino is very fluid; test projects like the pendant are often scrapped if they don’t meet Apple’s strict internal standards.

However, the report suggests that the new device could be launched in 2027 if Apple moves forward with its development.

We’ll be watching closely to see if all these rumors bear fruit, but we likely won’t get concrete answers until Apple unveils a slew of its latest wearables in September.