Apple's AI-powered Spatial Reframing tool just stole the show at WWDC

Spatial Reframing demo at WWDC 2026
(Image credit: Apple)

AI and photo editing go together like peanut butter and jelly, and Apple's just announced some impressive-sounding editing features at WWDC 2026. But of the three, it's clear that the new Reframe tool absolutely steals the show.

Reframe is a feature that does exactly what it sounds like. The idea is that you can take an existing photo and shift the perspective to create something (almost) totally new. It sounds like the kind of thing Apple would restrict to spatial photos, which are only visible on the Vision Pro headset, but that's not the case.

Referred to as Spatial Reframing, Apple says that this feature can be applied to all pictures Apple Photos has access to — even ones taken by a totally different camera.

Apple Intelligence features in Photos at WWDC 2026

(Image credit: Apple)

The AI scans the photo in question, and once done, you can pull your finger across the screen to change the perspective. Apple Photos lets you see a preview of the final image in real time, and once you've decided on the new perspective, generative AI will shift things around and fill in the blanks.

This effectively means that you don't necessarily need to stress about getting the right photo composition before you actually hit the shutter button. You can always come back to it later and shift things around to make them more visually appealing. Which is pretty incredible, especially when you remember that Apple Photos doesn't have any additional spatial data to work with.

In addition to Reframe, Apple is adding a new "Extend" feature, which is kinda like a reverse crop. It can expand the image beyond its original framing and generate new details that you may not have been able to get into shot the first time around.

Similarly, Clean Up, which arrived as part of iOS 18, is getting a much-needed upgrade that improves performance and offers better results whenever you remove an object.

We hope to test these features in the near future to see just how well they work.

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Tom Pritchard
UK Phones Editor

Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.

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