With less than two weeks until WWDC 2026, iOS 27 leaks have been pouring in one after another. Mark Gurman from Bloomberg has revealed several major new features — from a redesigned camera to Google Cast support. We’ve gathered everything important in one article.
It looks like iOS 27 will be a very interesting update
What’s New in the Camera App on iPhone
In iOS 26, Apple already updated the Camera app design, but in iOS 27, the company will go significantly further. According to Bloomberg, the camera interface will become fully customizable: users will be able to choose which controls to display on screen and where exactly to place them.
This includes settings like flash, exposure, timer, and resolution. Currently, most of these settings are hidden in an additional menu — in iOS 27, they can be brought to the main shooting screen. The mode switching button, currently located in the upper right corner, will move closer to the shutter button.
All of this is part of Apple’s strategy to attract professional photographers who are accustomed to quick access to key settings. If everything works as planned, the Camera app on iPhone will finally be able to compete with third-party solutions like Halide.
What the iPhone Camera Will Be Able to Recognize in iOS 27
Visual Intelligence will be built right into the iPhone camera
Another important change is the integration of Visual Intelligence directly into the Camera app as a separate Siri mode. Until now, this feature was mainly accessible through Camera Control, a separate app, or the Action Button. Now it will be much easier to reach.
In addition, Visual Intelligence will gain new capabilities. You’ll be able to scan food product labels to automatically log calories and nutrients. You’ll also be able to point the camera at business cards and instantly create contacts. Small things, but these are exactly the features that save time every day.
How iPhone Will Enhance Photos Using AI
In iOS 18, Apple added the Clean Up tool for removing unwanted objects from photos. In iOS 27, it will be joined by three new AI tools: Extend, Enhance, and Reframe.
Extend works on the principle of generative fill in Photoshop — it allows you to generate content beyond the boundaries of the original frame. Enhance automatically improves colors, lighting, and overall image quality. Reframe lets you change the perspective of a spatial photo after it’s been taken.
However, there’s a caveat. According to Gurman, Extend and Reframe are still unstable. It’s possible that Apple will show them at WWDC but delay the release until iOS 27.1 or even later. Enhance, by all indications, is ready for launch.
Image Playground and Genmoji in iOS 27: What Will Change
When Apple launched Image Playground and Genmoji in iOS 18.2, the quality of image generation drew a lot of criticism. Image Playground was especially criticized — results were noticeably worse than those of competitors. This was partly explained by the fact that models ran directly on the device, but that wasn’t much of an excuse.
It looks like Apple’s AI services will be able to create better images
In iOS 27, the situation should change. Gurman reports that Apple has significantly improved its own generation models — both Genmoji and Image Playground will see a noticeable jump in quality. It’s not yet known whether the models will remain fully local or whether some processing will be moved to the cloud. Additionally, Image Playground will open up to third-party models. Currently, the app supports generation through ChatGPT, but in the future, models from Google and other developers may be connected.
AirPods Settings in iOS 27: What’s New
There still won’t be a dedicated AirPods app, but Apple will finally overhaul the headphone settings screen in iOS 27. Over the past few years, the company has added tons of features to AirPods — head gestures, hearing aid mode, sleep tracking — and all of them were simply tacked onto the same interface that hasn’t changed since the first AirPods.
AirPods headphone settings will also be completely redesigned
Now the AirPods settings menu will get a complete overhaul. According to Bloomberg, it will become more functional, better organized, and less cluttered. The changes will affect iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27. Meanwhile, Apple Watch and Vision Pro will continue to have their own companion apps on iPhone, while AirPods won’t. A strange decision, but at least the settings will be put in order.
How Google Cast Will Work on iPhone
Perhaps the most unexpected news from Gurman’s newsletter. Apple is reportedly working on the ability to replace AirPlay with third-party streaming protocols — and do so at the system level. This means that users will be able to choose, for example, Google Cast as the default protocol for streaming video, photos, and music to a TV or speaker.
You’ll be able to stream from iPhone to TVs with Google and Android TV
For owners of Chromecast devices, as well as numerous TVs and smart speakers with Google Cast support, this would be a huge improvement. You’ll no longer need to rely on AirPlay.
