There aren’t AirPods with cameras yet and I hope it stays that way
There aren’t AirPods with cameras yet and I hope it stays that way
目前还没有带摄像头的 AirPods，我希望以后也不会有
September Apple events are always a swirl of information and new, exciting products, and today’s was no different. Apple announced its first foldable, the iPhone Duo, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max; active noise cancellation (ANC) is now on the cheapest AirPods model, the AirPods 5; and a Siri Recap feature comes to the Watch Series 12 and Watch Ultra 4. But missing were the AirPods Pro with cameras that have been rumored throughout the year and, according to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, are delayed until 2027. I’m happy about that and I hope we never get them.
九月的苹果发布会总是充斥着各种信息和令人兴奋的新产品，今天也不例外。苹果发布了其首款折叠屏手机 iPhone Duo，以及 iPhone 18 Pro 和 Pro Max；主动降噪（ANC）功能现在也下放到了最便宜的 AirPods 5 上；Siri Recap 功能则登陆了 Watch Series 12 和 Watch Ultra 4。但传闻已久、据彭博社 Mark Gurman 称已推迟至 2027 年的带摄像头 AirPods Pro 并没有出现。对此我感到很高兴，并希望它们永远不要问世。
I have too many concerns about a company — any company — putting cameras anywhere, especially in devices like earbuds that are now so ubiquitous in our daily lives. LED lights on glasses or earbuds do little to ease people’s minds when someone is recording them. And some Meta smart glasses users have shown people will hide their recording intentions. While recording in public in the US is generally legal, it can be very creepy. And with earbuds as common as they are, someone could wear them into sensitive situations unnoticed.
对于任何一家公司在任何地方安装摄像头，我都有太多的顾虑，尤其是像耳机这样如今已渗透到我们日常生活中无处不在的设备。当有人在录像时，眼镜或耳机上的 LED 指示灯几乎无法缓解人们的担忧。一些 Meta 智能眼镜的用户已经证明，人们会隐藏自己的录制意图。虽然在美国公共场合录像通常是合法的，但这可能会让人感到非常不安。而且由于耳机如此普及，有人可能会戴着它们进入敏感场合而不被察觉。
Rumors say that the cameras on the potential AirPods will be low-resolution and “aren’t designed” to take images or video, but instead use what they see to inform Siri AI and Visual Intelligence. That information could be used to help with turn-by-turn directions or identify writing and objects like books. Even with a low-resolution camera, it’s still potentially always gathering information about the world (and people!) around you. That invasion of privacy is something I cannot get past.
传闻称，这款潜在的 AirPods 上的摄像头分辨率较低，且“并非旨在”拍摄图像或视频，而是利用所见内容为 Siri AI 和视觉智能（Visual Intelligence）提供信息。这些信息可用于辅助导航，或识别文字和书籍等物体。即使是低分辨率摄像头，它也可能一直在收集关于你周围世界（以及人！）的信息。这种对隐私的侵犯是我无法接受的。
During today’s event, Apple introduced Audio Intelligence with the Apple Watch, which sounds like a precursor to the Visual Intelligence we’re expecting on the rumored AirPods Pro 4. In its support documentation, Apple points out that audio is not stored and there’s no way to access a recording, which could be the same for video data with Visual Intelligence, and that for its Siri Recap feature, any data used to create a summary is not even accessible by Apple. Any stored data — such as a Siri Recap or a bit of text the user can save with Live Rewind — is also end-to-end encrypted. People are not identified in the Siri Recap, either. Of course, none of this is live yet, so we’ll have to wait and see how well Audio Intelligence works once it’s released.
在今天的发布会上，苹果随 Apple Watch 推出了“音频智能”（Audio Intelligence），这听起来像是我们所期待的传闻中 AirPods Pro 4 上“视觉智能”的前奏。苹果在支持文档中指出，音频不会被存储，也无法访问录音，这可能与视觉智能的视频数据处理方式相同。此外，对于 Siri Recap 功能，用于创建摘要的任何数据甚至连苹果公司自己都无法访问。任何存储的数据——例如 Siri Recap 或用户通过 Live Rewind 保存的文本——也都是端到端加密的。Siri Recap 中也不会识别具体的人。当然，这些功能尚未上线，我们还得拭目以待，看看音频智能发布后的实际表现如何。
Functionally, a camera will only gather information if it can see things. What if you have thick, long hair? Or like to wear hoodie sweatshirts? Or fancy, elaborate jewelry? The AirPods would just turn into what they should be — earbuds. It’s possible the reason the AirPods with cameras have been pushed into 2027 is to find solutions to these problems. Or maybe part of the delay is Apple separating itself from the current public climate around cameras thanks to Meta and Flock.
从功能上讲，摄像头只有在能看到东西的情况下才能收集信息。如果你留着浓密的长发呢？或者喜欢穿连帽衫？又或者佩戴精致复杂的首饰呢？那么 AirPods 就只会变回它们本来的样子——耳机。带摄像头的 AirPods 被推迟到 2027 年，可能是为了寻找解决这些问题的方法。又或者，部分延迟是因为苹果希望在当前公众对摄像头（受 Meta 和 Flock 影响）的舆论环境下，与此类产品保持距离。
The one immediate benefit of the AirPods with cameras could be accessibility. They could improve situational awareness for people with visual limitations or help hard-of-hearing users read lips. They could even figure out the person you’re speaking to and focus the AirPods’ mics on them for increased intelligibility.
带摄像头的 AirPods 的一个直接好处可能是辅助功能。它们可以提高视障人士的情境感知能力，或帮助听障用户阅读唇语。它们甚至可以识别出你正在与之交谈的人，并将 AirPods 的麦克风对准他们，以提高语音清晰度。
When you take out privacy concerns or the fact that lots of people — and companies — look for opportunities to exploit people, there’s good that can be done. But it involves a lot of trust to be put in untrustworthy hands. I’m not sure I’m ready for that. Or if I ever will be. Whether any of us are ready or not, though, it seems the cameras are coming. The introduction of Apple’s Audio Intelligence on the new Apple Watch is evidence enough that the company is going all in on using sensors to analyze the world around us.
抛开隐私顾虑，以及许多人——和公司——都在寻找机会剥削他人这一事实，这项技术确实能带来一些益处。但这需要将大量的信任交给不可信的一方。我不确定自己是否准备好了，或者未来是否会准备好。但无论我们是否准备好，摄像头似乎终究会到来。苹果在新款 Apple Watch 上引入音频智能，足以证明该公司正全力投入利用传感器来分析我们周围的世界。