Apple HQ has seemingly sprung a leak in the days ahead of its WWDC 2025 keynote, as new details about the company’s upcoming software updates continue to find their way online. After spoiling a few surprises pertaining to iOS 26 on Tuesday, 9to5Mac returned today with updates about new features likely coming to Apple’s AirPods this fall.
According to 9to5Mac, there are several new features currently in the works for Apple’s line of wireless earbuds. The expectation is that these new features will be included in the iOS 26 and macOS 26 software updates, but the site also warns that Apple may “choose to delay or tweak” these features, so there’s no guarantee we’ll see them this fall.
With that out of the way, let’s dig into the rumored AirPods upgrades.
New AirPods features set for iOS 26
Of the rumored features, the most intriguing is camera control. 9to5Mac says AirPods users will be able to press the AirPods stem in order to snap a photo with a connected iPhone. This exact feature was available on Apple’s EarBuds, but has yet to appear on AirPods.
The report also notes that AirPods will soon support new head gestures. Apple introduced head gestures on AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 in 2024, allowing users to move their heads to answer or decline phone calls as well as interact with messages and notifications. On iOS 26, Apple will reportedly add even more gestures, potentially including one that would give users the ability to end or extend a Conversation Awareness volume adjustment.
Other new features coming to Apple’s AirPods in iOS 26 include sleep detection to automatically pause content when the user dozes off, a “studio quality” mic mode similar to the iPhone’s Audio Mix feature, and an improved pairing experience.
Tune in to WWDC 2025
As for which AirPods will get these features, we’ll have to wait until Monday to find out. Apple’s WWDC 2025 keynote is scheduled to begin on June 9 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET. Even if these new features aren’t announced during the keynote, we always find a wide variety of new features that Apple didn’t have time to discuss once the dust settles after the event.
We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for these AirPods upgrades and more on Monday.
