Apple is developing advanced camera tools for iOS 27, including exposure scopes, focus peaking, and multi-shot timers, discovered in beta code by a MacRumors forum regular. The unreleased software hints at aperture-based image corrections potentially tied to the iPhone 18 Pro ahead of Apple’s September 9 event.
Apple is packing a suite of professional photography tools into iOS 27, according to unreleased beta code spotted by forum contributor “pdfu.” While none of the features are currently accessible to users testing active betas, and Apple could still hold some or all of them back from the September release, the discovery points to major upgrades for the iPhone Camera app that could debut alongside new hardware or arrive in a subsequent software update. The findings follow pdfu’s recent code discoveries covering unreleased game controllers, a four-speaker HomePod surround system, and new Apple Watch details.
Exposure Scopes and Focus Tools Found in iOS 27 Beta Code
The code references reveal a significant push toward granular control for mobile photographers. Among the additions are exposure scopes that incorporate waveform and histogram displays to help judge exposure while shooting. A histogram shows how much of the image is too dark, too bright, or in between, while a waveform shows similar information but keeps it lined up with where those areas are in the frame.
Focus management is also seeing an overhaul through focus peaking and highlight warnings, which overlay helpful information right on top of the camera preview. Focus peaking highlights the edges of whatever’s in sharp focus using a colored outline, while a separate overlay warns when part of the image is getting overexposed, using a solid color, a pulsing color, diagonal stripes, or a checkerboard pattern. Apple is also adding the ability to take several timed photos in a row rather than just one. After each shot, the countdown starts again right away instead of waiting for the photo to finish saving, so the shots can be taken back to back.
Manual Focus Restrictions and Aperture-Based Image Corrections
A control for manually setting and locking focus, rather than relying on autofocus, has also turned up in testing, similar to what’s already available in Apple’s Final Cut Camera app. Although a version of this existed in iOS 26 with a focus slider, that slider was removed in iOS 27 beta 1. The underlying focus-locking code is still there, but Apple has restricted it to devices that ship with iOS 27 or later, so it won’t work on any current iPhone.
Meanwhile, a change to how photos are processed could be tied to a future iPhone with a variable aperture, a lens opening that can widen or narrow rather than staying fixed. iOS 27 can adjust lens corrections depending on the aperture setting, blending between up to four reference points to smooth out the results. Although the hidden features could be made available to other iPhone models, the presence of aperture-based image correction when the iPhone 18 Pro is widely expected to offer a variable aperture main camera suggests that at least some of the capabilities could arrive with the new models.
Hardware Speculation Ahead of the September Apple Event
The software discoveries arrive just ahead of Apple’s announced event on Wednesday, September 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, with the company widely expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, its first-ever foldable iPhone, and more. Other products expected to be announced at the event include an Apple Watch Series 12 with a ceramic case option, an Apple Watch Ultra 4, and AirPods 5.
Less than a week before Apple debuts new iPhone 18 Pro models, research firm TrendForce has estimated the prices of the devices based on the latest hardware cost environment. TrendForce’s price estimates compared the iPhone 17 Pro starting price of $1,099 to the expected iPhone 18 Pro pricing.