Apple may soon bring sleep detection, camera control, and gesture support to AirPods

AirPods Pro

Apple will host this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) from June 9 to 13. While this annual event usually focuses on major updates across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS devices, this year, AirPods may steal some of the spotlight. A new report suggests that Apple is planning to provide the latest AirPods with head gestures, enabling users to toggle Conversation Awareness and adjust volume simply by moving their heads. Other such advanced hands-free features are also planned.

According to a report by 9to5Mac, Apple is testing several new capabilities aimed at enhancing the usability of AirPods in everyday scenarios. One of the expected features is a new sleep detection feature, which will detect when a user has fallen asleep and automatically pause audio playback. It’s unclear whether this enhancement will work independently or in sync with the Apple Watch, which already has sleep detection.

Another feature could be the addition of new head gestures to include Conversational Awareness volume adjustment. This feature could allow the AirPods to automatically lower media volume when they detect a user speaking through a head gesture, then revert to the original noise-control setting through a simple nod or a custom head movement to resume playback or toggle modes.

Another feature expected to draw attention is camera control via AirPods. This could finally allow users to snap a photo on their iPhone or iPad by tapping the stem of their AirPods to trigger the camera shutter button, similar to how Apple Watch users can control the iPhone camera. The company could also offer ‘studio quality’ mic mode for AirPods, which could be similar to the iPhone 16's audio mix feature, and would remove unwanted background noise from video footage.