Apple appears to be preparing a slate of more advanced photography tools for the iPhone, including exposure scopes, focus peaking, and expanded manual focus controls.
We already know that Apple is improving the Camera app in iOS 27. Now, new beta code gives us a sneak peek into what we can expect in the fall.
The references appeared in iOS 27 beta code, first spotted by pdfu, a MacRumors forum regular. Five new features could appear at launch or in a future update.
The first is a new exposure scopes feature, including implementation of waveform and histogram displays. This will help users judge exposures in different formats.
The histogram will show a user what percentage of pixels are over- or underexposed. The waveform will show similar information but line that information up with the areas in the frame.
Another feature is focus peaking, which will highlight the edges of whatever's currently in focus. A colored outline will show what's in focus, while a secondary overlay will warn users when part of the image is overexposed.
The Camera app is also getting a new timer option. Now, users will be able to set the timer to take several shots in a row, with a countdown starting right away instead of waiting for the photo to finish saving.
Manual focusing will also be bolstered in iOS 27. This feature will be similar to what is already available in Apple's current Final Cut Camera app.
As pdfu notes, a version of this existed in iOS 26 with a focus slider, but the slider had been removed in the iOS 27 beta. Allegedly, the feature will be restricted to devices that ship with iOS 27, so it won't work on any current iPhone models.
Lastly, Apple could be changing how photos are processed on future iPhones. Aperture-based image corrections may arrive with a new iPhone that would feature a variable aperture, which is suspected for the iPhone 18 Pro.
None of these features are currently available to users with current betas. Apple may not release all of these features in the September release, either.
