Apple's Image Playground to soon support 3rd-party AI models
Apple is shaking things up with its Image Playground app—their tool for AI-generated images.
After starting out with simple in-house models and then adding OpenAI's ChatGPT to broaden creative options, Apple now seems ready to bring even more third-party AI models into the mix, according to fresh beta updates for iOS 26, macOS 26, and iPadOS 26.
Gemini likely 1st choice for Apple in this upgrade
The latest betas show new features like "estimated latency" and provider identifiers, hinting that Image Playground could soon pick the best model based on latency or other factors.
While Apple hasn't named any new partners yet, Google's Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (Nano Banana) is considered a strong candidate thanks to its realistic image skills.
For now, Apple looks set on teaming up with established AI providers—helping keep things creative but also safe and accessible for users.