Apple to upgrade Photos app with new AI editing tools
What's the story
Apple is gearing up to revolutionize its photo-editing capabilities on iPhone, iPad, and Mac with a new set of AI-powered tools. The upcoming features, likely to be called Extend, Enhance, and Reframe, will be introduced with iOS 27. The tech giant is expected to announce this update at its WWDC 2026 event in June. However, the actual rollout may not happen until September when new iPhones are launched.
Feature details
The new AI tools will significantly improve photo editing
The new AI tools are designed to improve user experience by allowing them to extend, enhance, and reframe photos on their devices. The processing time for these tasks is said to be just a few seconds. This would be a major upgrade from the current basic editing features offered by the Photos app on iOS, which include adjusting filters and cropping images.
Market competition
Apple to take on Google, Samsung with iOS 27
The introduction of these AI-powered editing features by Apple would put it in direct competition with companies like Google and Samsung, which have been offering similar capabilities for years. Google's Pixel phones come with features like Magic Eraser and generative expansion, while Samsung's Galaxy devices have similar capabilities through its collaboration with Google. Other Android manufacturers such as OnePlus and OPPO also provide several AI editing features within their Gallery apps.
User interface
New 'Apple Intelligence Tools' section in Photos app
With iOS 27, Apple plans to add a new "Apple Intelligence Tools" section to the editing interface in the Photos app. This new interface will include features like Extend, Enhance, Reframe, and Clean Up. The Extend feature will let users create content beyond an image's original frame while the Enhance tool will automatically improve certain aspects of images using AI.
Tool functionality
Extend and Reframe tools don't work reliably yet
The Reframe tool is aimed at spatial photos and could let users change perspective after capturing an image. However, development of these new AI tools hasn't been entirely smooth. Internal testing has shown that the Extend and Reframe tools don't work reliably during tests. These issues could result in Apple delaying or scaling back the features depending on how its underlying models improve over time.