Siri is getting a major overhaul in iOS 27, but Apple has some big updates planned for apps like Camera, Photos, and Wallet. Several new AI features are in the works, and some non-AI improvements are as well.
Apple’s iOS 27 release is imminent: This year’s big iPhone software update will be announced and shown off during the WWDC26 keynote on Monday. The latest report suggests it will include an intriguing and somewhat unexpected new feature.
According to a prolific Weibo leaker known as Fixed Focus Digital, the iOS 27 update will introduce a new view for apps viewed in landscape orientation: “Apple is working on Parallel View for the iOS version to solve the landscape adaptation issue,” the leaker writes (via Google Translate). “Objectively speaking, iOS is really great, but its large-screen adaptation has always been relatively poor.”
As is often the case with this leaker, there aren’t many details to go on. But it does seem like Apple is planning to bring something similar to Split View mode from iPadOS to the iPhone. This handy feature lets you run two apps side by side on the same screen at the same time. It’s especially useful if you frequently need to paste text or images from one app to another, or if you have a source or research tool open (perhaps in Safari or News) while writing in Pages or Notes. We discussed the feature and some of the related modes in an article about iPad multitasking.
However, the feature can focus on a single app that displays two windows side by side, such as the main view and a menu. It’s possible that Apple is simply introducing dynamic app scaling to “accommodate the iPhone Ultra’s odd 3:4 aspect ratio.”
When is iOS 27 expected to be released?
Based on Apple’s well-established release pattern, iOS 27 is expected to follow the same familiar schedule that iPhone users have come to rely on year after year. It’s a predictable timeline that makes planning ahead a little easier.
Is iOS 27 going to be a big update or a quiet one?
Here’s the honest answer: It depends on what you mean by “big.” iOS 27 is shaping up to be less about dramatic visual overhauls and more about making your iPhone perform significantly better. Think of it as Apple quietly doing some boring but important stuff under the hood.
Industry insiders have described Apple’s internal approach to iOS 27 as a “Snow Leopard” moment, a nod to the legendary macOS release of years ago that didn’t have any new features on paper but made everything faster, smoother, and more reliable. If the same logic applies here, the result should be an iPhone experience that doesn’t look dramatically different but feels genuinely fresh.
Features
Camera
The camera control button in the Camera app in iOS 27. Siri mode is available with the available photo, video, portrait, and panorama modes. When in Siri mode, the existing Camera app shutter button will display the Apple logo, indicating that Siri features are available.
Apple is adding new ‘visual intelligence’ capabilities in iOS 27, which are available through the ‘Siri’ mode in the Camera app.
Nutrition – Users can scan nutrition labels on food packages to track calories and macronutrients using the Health app.
Contacts – ‘Visual intelligence’ allows users to scan phone numbers and addresses on business cards and other printed media, adding the information to the Contacts app.
Apple’s Camera app is more customizable in iOS 27. iPhone users will be able to replace the top row of camera shortcuts with a selection of their preferred features, such as flash, exposure, timer, depth of field, photo style, and resolution.
Camera controls, now labeled as widgets, can be placed in any order at the top of the camera interface. Users can select widgets from a transparent widget tray that comes at the bottom of the app and organize widgets into categories such as Basic, Manual, and Settings.
photos
The Photos app has an Apple Intelligence Tools section for editing images, with new Extend and Reframe options.
Extend – Extend generates additional image content beyond the original photo frame, filling in the scene when changing an image’s crop. This tool will support expanding the edges of an image with zoom gestures.
Reframe – When used with spatial photos, Reframe lets users adjust an image’s perspective after capture.
Apple is also testing an AI photo-editing feature that will allow users to request edits in natural language. Users will be able to change color, lighting, cropping, and other image parameters without using manual tools. The voice-based photo editing feature may not arrive in the first version of iOS 27’.
Shortcuts
The iOS 27’ Shortcuts app will support using natural language to create a shortcut with AI. Users can tell Siri what they want a multi-step shortcut to accomplish, and Siri will generate it.
The Shortcuts app will open with a prompt asking, “What do you want your shortcut to do?” and a text field to enter a description. The AI-generated shortcut will be installed automatically and ready to use immediately.
Image Playground and Genmoji
Apple is updating the Image Playground app. The interface for generating a new image has fewer controls and a “Describe a change” option for editing created images. Previously created images are displayed in a grid with more rounded edges, and instead of a new image button, there’s a “+” button.
Apple is also testing new modes that produce more lifelike images, so we could see new image generation capabilities with better image quality in iOS 27.
Genmoji is also getting an update so it will use fewer resources, which should reduce battery drain and reduce heat issues. Genmoji is higher quality and uses a new format, and a proposed ‘Genmoji’ feature will suggest custom emoji based on your media and text history.
Writing Tools
Apple is testing an expanded version of Writing Tools that will do more rewriting and text generation than the current version. There’s a “Write with Siri” toggle at the top of the keyboard and a “Help Me Write” option that comes up when you activate Siri while a text field is open.
Apple is also adding a dedicated AI grammar checker that works alongside the current spell checker. There’s a translucent menu that slides up from the bottom of the iPhone screen as you type in Messages, Mail, and other apps, and it will display suggested revisions next to the original written text.
Users can go through the suggestions and accept or reject them one by one, approve all changes at once, or ignore the changes.
Other features
- Wallpaper – Along with the built-in feature for choosing a new wallpaper, there’s also an option to generate custom wallpapers with the ‘Image Playground’ app.
- Safari – Safari will get an updated home page with four tabs for switching between favorites, bookmarks, reading list, and history.
- Calendar – The Calendar app is rumored to include new AI features. Siri will also be able to pull information from within the app.
- Health – Calorie tracking in the Health app will be more prominent with the arrival of a new calorie scanning feature in the Camera app. Apple was also planning a Health+ subscription service that has been re-scaled, and there may be other changes to the AI health apps.
- Weather – There’s a new conditions panel in the Weather app to switch between temperature, rain, and wind from the main interface, without the need to tap a weather module.
- AirPods Settings – The AirPods interface in the Settings app has been simplified with better organized options. Key features like Hearing Health will be easier to find.
- AirPlay Options – Apple is adding a feature that will allow users to beam content to AirPlay options like Google Cast. Since it was implemented as a requirement of the Digital Market Act, it may be limited to iPhone users in the EU.