Apple's iOS 27 Photos app ships three new AI editing tools, and after years of trailing Google and Samsung, the results mark a genuine step up.
The main upgrade is Clean Up, which now uses a hybrid approach: simple removals run on-device, while more complex tasks route to Apple's Private Cloud Compute servers. Apple says those servers are encrypted and that uploaded photos aren't used for training. In testing, the cloud mode performed substantially better, eliminating roughly 99% of a face-obstructing object where the on-device version returned a garbled mess in iOS 26. Two other tools debut alongside it: Extend fills in what's beyond a photo's original frame using generative AI, and Reframe attempts to shift the apparent camera angle after the fact; the former works reasonably well while the latter struggles noticeably with faces.
Closing this gap required the same tradeoff Google made years ago: send the hard problems to a cloud. Apple has staked much of its AI pitch on keeping user data on-device, so routing Photos edits through servers, even its own, is a meaningful concession. One detail worth flagging: early coverage indicates Apple's Extend feature draws on Gemini-trained models for image manipulation, which is a pointed irony for a company whose AI brand is built on not sending your data to third-party services.
All three tools are currently in beta. iOS 27 is expected to ship in the fall.