How to Use the 3 New Apple Intelligence Features in Photos on iOS 27

Apple is giving the Photos app a pretty big AI upgrade in iOS 27. And I really like this. Instead of only adjusting things like brightness, color or cropping, you can now use Apple Intelligence to actually change the composition of a photo.

There are three Apple Intelligence editing tools that you can use: Reframe, Extend and Clean Up.

Reframe lets you change the perspective of a photo after you've taken it. Extend can create more space around your original photo. And Clean Up can remove unwanted objects and automatically fill in the space behind them.

Here’s how each one works.

Before you start

These features use Apple Intelligence, so you’ll need a compatible iPhone with Apple Intelligence enabled. This will be an iPhone 15 Pro or newer.

You can find the new tools directly inside the Photos app:

1. Open the Photos app.

2. Choose the photo you want to change.

3. Tap Edit.

4. Look for the Apple Intelligence editing tools. You will see the Apple Intelligence logo.

5. From here, you can choose Reframe, Extend or Clean Up.

Now let's take a look at what each one actually does.

1. Reframe a photo after you've taken it

Ever taken a great photo but wished you had held your iPhone slightly higher, lower or at a different angle?

That's exactly what Reframe is made for.

Instead of simply cropping the existing image, Reframe uses Apple Intelligence to change the perspective of the photo. You can move the image around and preview how the photo could have looked if the camera had been positioned differently.

How to use Reframe

1. Open the Photos app on your iPhone.

2. Open the photo you want to change.

3. Tap Edit.

4. Select Tools (You see the Apple Intelligence logo).

5. Select Reframe.

6. Touch and drag the photo to adjust the perspective.

7. Move it around until you find a composition you like.

8. Watch the preview as Apple Intelligence creates the missing parts of the image.

9. When you're happy with the result, tap Done to save it. You can also go back to the original photo with just one tab to see the difference.

When is Reframe useful?

Reframe can be especially useful when your original composition wasn't quite right.
For example, you could use it when:

• Your subject is positioned too close to one side of the photo.

• You wish you had taken the picture from a slightly different angle.

• The perspective of a building or landscape doesn't look quite right.

• You simply want to experiment with a different composition.

The cool part is that this goes beyond a normal crop. Apple Intelligence generates new image information where necessary to make the new perspective work.

2. Make your photo bigger with Extend

Extend does almost the opposite of cropping.
Instead of removing part of your photo, it lets you make the frame larger.

Apple Intelligence then looks at the original image and generates what could realistically exist outside of the photo you originally captured.

How to use Extend

1. Open Photos.

2. Choose a photo.

3. Tap Edit.

4. Select Tools (You see the Apple Intelligence logo).

5. Select Extend

6. Adjust the frame to make the image larger.

7. Drag the edges in the direction where you want more space.

8. Apple Intelligence will generate the missing parts around your original photo.

9. Check the result.

10. When you're happy with the result, tap Done to save it. You can also go back to the original photo with just one tab to see the difference.

Why would you use Extend?

There are actually quite a few useful reasons.

Imagine you took a photo where someone's head is a little too close to the top of the frame. Instead of cropping even more of the image, you can use Extend to create additional space above them.

You can also use it to:

• Give your subject more room in the photo.

• Turn a tightly cropped photo into a wider image.

• Change the aspect ratio without cutting off important parts.

• Create extra space around a subject.

• Straighten a crooked horizon without losing as much of the original image.

That last one is especially useful. Normally, rotating a photo to straighten the horizon also crops the edges. With Extend, Apple Intelligence can generate the missing areas instead. And I must say, this works really really good.

3. Remove unwanted objects with the upgraded Clean Up

Clean Up isn't completely new, but Apple has made it much more powerful in iOS 27.

It lets you remove distracting objects from your photos while Apple Intelligence automatically creates a new background where the object used to be.

The upgraded version is designed to handle larger objects and more complicated scenes with more natural-looking results.

How to use Clean Up

1. Open the Photos app.

2. Select the photo you want to edit.

3. Tap Edit.

4. Select Tools (You see the Apple Intelligence logo).

5. Tap Clean Up.

6. Your iPhone may automatically highlight objects that it thinks you might want to remove.

7. Tap a highlighted object to remove it.

8. Tap, brush over or circle the object you want to remove.

9. Apple Intelligence will now remove it and recreate the area behind it.

10. Zoom in with two fingers if you need to make a more precise selection.

11. Repeat the process if there are other objects you want to remove.

12. Tap Done when you're finished. You can also switch back to the original photo to see how it looked before you removed the object.

What can you use Clean Up for?

Clean Up works great for removing small distractions that ruin an otherwise good photo.

Think about:

• Someone walking through the background.

• A trash can behind your subject.

• A sign or object you don't want in the shot.

• People in the distance.

• Objects sitting on a table or surface.

• Other distracting elements around your main subject.

With iOS 27, Apple Intelligence is better at rebuilding the area behind the removed object, which can make edits look much more natural.

Reframe vs. Extend: what's the difference?

At first, Reframe and Extend can sound very similar, but they do two different things.

Reframe changes the composition and perspective of your photo. It's almost like being able to slightly reposition the camera after you've already taken the picture.

Extend makes the existing canvas larger. Your original composition stays largely intact, while Apple Intelligence creates new content around the edges.

A simple way to remember it:

Reframe = change the shot.
Extend = make the shot bigger.

Three AI tools that can actually save a photo

I really like the direction Apple is taking here because these aren't AI features hidden somewhere deep inside iOS. They're tools you can actually use on photos you've already taken.

A photo that's framed badly? Reframe it.

Need a little more space around your subject? Extend it.

Someone walked into the background at exactly the wrong moment? Clean it up.

And because all three tools are built directly into the Photos app, you don't have to export your photos to another editing app first.

If you're running iOS 27 on a supported iPhone, these are definitely three Apple Intelligence features worth trying.

TIPS & TRICKS

Image: Clean Up, Extend & Reframe

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