Earlier this year, Apple gave us a glimpse into the future of AirPods, both online and in person in front of a large audience: the AirPods Pro 2 is now available as a clinical-grade hearing aid.

According to analyst Mark Garman, more health features are on the way for this little white bud, who writes for Bloomberg that he is looking at heart rate monitors, temperature sensors, and “technology that tracks numerous physiological indicators.”

Apparently the biggest challenge is “measuring the user's heart rate with AirPods. Presumably, all of these fitness features would work together to get numbers from different parts of the body and give a more comprehensive picture of health; as for how useful AirPods by themselves would be, that remains to be seen. My first thought was, “If I wear my AirPods when I run, I don't need my iPhone or Apple Watch!” That was it.

But then, where would your music come from?

Garman said that the AirPods Pro 3 may have heart rate monitoring capabilities. We hope to see them at some point next year so we are likely to get an idea of what health features they will have soon.

Fitness features aren't the only thing likely to be included in the AirPods; another report from Bloomberg says that future AirPods could include a camera, which “will be processed by AI and used to capture data to help people in their daily lives.”

This would actually be a very good thing.

What this actually means and how it will work remains to be seen, but Garman tells us it is a bit of a long shot. In any case, Apple seems to be working on all sorts of features for the AirPods Pro 3 (or 4, or 5).

The AirPods are small and must already have incredible sensors, drivers, and batteries before Apple can include a camera, heart rate monitor, and temperature reader At what point will the AirPods Pro become a tech device rather than an audio device? At what point will the AirPods Pro become a technology device rather than an audio device?

I don't know about you, but I'm interested in the audio portion of the AirPods. Because they play music when I'm on the subway or bus. I would like to see them do that well first before cramming in more sensors and gadgets.

Although one of the best noise-canceling earphones, Apple still has work to do in this area, given that it has been overtaken by the WF-1000XM5 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra earphones when it comes to sound and ANC. And we don't know if they have the sensors, cameras, and monitors to make up for it.