Apple is overhauling its Photos app with AI — because it has to

A new suite of editing tools shows Apple is responding to years of pressure from Google and Samsung

by · TechRadar

News By Eric Hal Schwartz published 1 May 2026

(Image credit: Future)

Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter

  • Apple is planning a major AI-powered overhaul of its Photos app across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
  • New tools like Extend, Enhance, and Reframe aim to match advanced editing features already popular on Android devices.
  • The move reflects Apple’s need to compete in one of the most visible areas of AI.

Apple is getting serious about AI photo editing, and not a moment too soon. The company is preparing a significant overhaul of the built-in Photos app across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, according to a Bloomberg report. introducing a new set of tools powered by its Apple Intelligence platform. The update, expected to arrive with iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 later this year, is designed to bring the best iPhones closer to features that Android users have had for some time.

The timing is not accidental. Apple is adding AI to Photos because photo editing has become one of the clearest places where its rivals are undeniably ahead. Google and Samsung have turned image editing into a showcase for what AI can do. Apple’s more restrained approach fits with its culture, but as people become more comfortable with AI tools, the gap between Apple and other smartphone makers is increasingly noticeable.

Apple Photos AI editing

The Apple Photos update will reportedly center on a new Apple Intelligence Tools section within the Photos app. Users will see the new Extend, Enhance, and Reframe tools alongside the existing Clean Up feature.

Article continues below

Extend allows users to pull outward on the edges of an image and generate new content beyond the original frame. A close shot can be widened, with AI-generated details based on what seems plausible. Enhance uses AI to improve a photo's color, lighting, and other details using more than the traditional amount of machine learning. Reframe is the most imaginative, actually changing perspective in a photo after it's taken, recomposing the photo entirely.

Collectively, they represent moving from subtle correction to active creation, allowing the software to invent parts of an image rather than simply refine it. The upcoming Photos tools suggest Apple has decided it cannot sit on the sidelines of that transition any longer.

Apple Photos cannot afford to stay conservative

Google’s Pixel devices have spent years demonstrating what AI editing can look like when it is treated as a core feature rather than an add-on. Tools that remove unwanted objects, sharpen blurred faces, or expand scenes have moved from novelty to expectation. Samsung has followed closely, integrating similar capabilities into its own ecosystem.

That matters more than it might seem. Photo editing has become one of the most tangible ways people experience AI. Apple’s Apple Intelligence AI label needs moments like this to land convincingly. Photos grab attention even from people who have no interest at all in a chatbot. If Apple wants to demonstrate that its AI approach is competitive, Photos is one of the clearest places to do it.

Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox

Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.

Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors