Apple Inc is planning a major overhaul of the built-in photo-editing features for the iPhone, iPad and Mac, leaning heavily on artificial intelligence to better compete with Android devices.
The company is developing a new suite of tools powered by its Apple Intelligence platform for iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27, slated for release this fall, according to people familiar with the matter.
The features will allow users to extend, enhance and reframe images using on-device AI models. Processing typically takes a few seconds, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been announced. A spokesperson for the Cupertino, California-based company declined to comment.
Apple is playing catch-up in this area. Alphabet Inc’s Google has offered advanced AI photo-editing capabilities on its Pixel devices for years, including tools like Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur and generative image expansion. Samsung Electronics Co, which relies on Google’s Android operating system, has also pushed aggressively into AI editing with its Galaxy smartphone lineup.
Today, Apple’s Photos app offers four primary editing options: Adjust, Filters, Crop and Clean Up. The last of those is the company’s only AI-powered tool, enabling users to remove objects from images.
In the upcoming software, the company is adding a new "Apple Intelligence Tools” section to the editing interface. It includes the Extend, Enhance, Reframe and Clean Up features.
Development of the features hasn’t gone entirely smoothly, though. The Extend and Reframe tools don’t perform reliably during internal testing, according to several people who have used them. Apple could theoretically delay or scale back the features depending on improvements to its underlying models.
The company is already facing criticism over its first AI editing tool. Since its debut, users have complained that Clean Up can produce inconsistent results – sometimes leaving behind artefacts, distorting images or filling removed areas with inaccurate details.
Apple’s broader software updates will focus on two main priorities this year. First, the company is looking to improve the Siri voice assistant and expand other parts of Apple Intelligence. Second, it’s seeking to refine its operating systems to boost performance. That effort should help extend battery life and reduce bugs following last year’s more visually ambitious overhaul.
Additional AI-related changes in development include a dedicated Siri app and a redesigned interface for the assistant that resembles a chatbot. Apple also will offer the ability to swap in rival voice agents via the App Store and an option for Siri to handle multiple commands within a single request. – Bloomberg
