iOS 27 Camera: a histogram at last, and what it still can't do

26 September 2026

iOS 27's Camera app has a histogram, but only on the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, as part of a new Pro Controls panel with manual aperture, shutter speed and white balance. Every iPhone on iOS 27 gets customisable Camera controls. What Apple hasn't shipped, or at least hasn't announced: manual ISO, focus peaking, a waveform, zebras and manual focus. Apple's additions are good, and they're the first real pro tools in the stock Camera. Here's exactly what's there, and what photographers still need from another app.

What iOS 27 added for every iPhone

Customisable controls. Tap the six-dot button at the bottom right of the Camera, then Edit at the top left, and choose which controls sit at the top of the screen. MacRumors (10 September) lists Flash, Live Photo, Aspect Ratio, Timer, Exposure, Styles, Filters, Depth Control, Night Mode, Center Stage, File Format and Shared Library, depending on model, plus a Reset to Essentials option. It works on every iPhone that runs iOS 27. It's a small change that fixes a lot of hunting through menus.

Siri mode. 9to5Mac (15 September) describes it as Visual Intelligence moved into the full Camera app, on Apple Intelligence iPhones. It's useful, but it isn't a photography tool.

What only the iPhone 18 Pro gets: Pro Controls

Apple's 9 September press release introduces Pro Controls for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max: "Users can now adjust settings such as lens aperture, shutter speed, and white balance, or use a histogram to check exposure levels throughout a scene."

• Aperture. The 48MP main camera has a variable aperture with six blades and four settings. You can leave it on automatic or set it yourself.
• Shutter speed. From 1/1600 s to 1 s, according to MacRumors' how-to (18 September).
• White balance, set manually.
• Histogram. PetaPixel's review (16 September) says you can toggle it and move it anywhere on screen.

Pro Controls are deliberately tucked away. You tap a button to reveal them, then Edit to choose which ones appear. That's the right call for a camera most people never set by hand.

What about focus peaking and the waveform?

In the week before the launch, 9to5Mac (8 September) and AppleInsider (7 September) reported code in the iOS 27 beta for a waveform and histogram with RGB Composite, RGB Parade and Luminance modes, focus peaking, manual focus and highlight-clipping warnings. At the time none of it could be switched on, and the reports noted Apple could hold some of it back.

Apple's press release names the histogram. It doesn't mention focus peaking, a waveform, manual focus or clipping warnings, and neither does PetaPixel's review. Some coverage describes a focus-peaking outline in Pro Controls, but we haven't been able to confirm it from Apple's own material. Until Apple documents it, treat focus peaking in the stock Camera as unconfirmed, and check on your own 18 Pro.

What it still can't do

None of this is a complaint about what Apple did ship. It's a list of what photographers coming from a dedicated camera will still look for.

No manual ISO

PetaPixel asked about this. Apple's answer was that the Camera "blend[s] so many photos together for each shot for computational reasons that adding ISO here didn't make any sense". It's an honest answer and it follows from how the pipeline works. But it means there's no ISO priority and no fully manual exposure. Setting a shutter speed gives you shutter priority in practice, with ISO chosen for you.

No zebras with a threshold you set

A histogram tells you that something is clipping. Zebras show you where. For RAW shooters exposing to the right, zebras with an adjustable threshold are the faster tool. Clipping warnings turned up in the beta code, but they aren't among the announced features.

No confirmed manual focus loupe or peaking

Tap-to-focus and Apple's subject tracking are very good. For close-ups, low light or zone focusing on the street, you still want to pull focus yourself and see a magnified patch while you do.

Pro Controls are 18 Pro only

An iPhone 17 Pro on iOS 27 gets the customisable controls but not the histogram, shutter speed or white balance controls. For owners of recent Pro iPhones this looks a lot like the texture and grain story: new tools, tied to new hardware.

No RAW with a live look, and no films of your own

Apple's looks, Photographic Styles and the new Film texture, work only on HEIF, as PetaPixel notes. Shoot ProRAW and there's no look at all, only a file to edit later. There's also no way to build your own look and load it in the Camera. RAW vs HEIF on iPhone explains why that matters for film looks.

Doing it in Chobial

Chobial is a third-party camera app that covers most of that list, on any iPhone running iOS 26, not only the 18 Pro. It isn't on the App Store yet. The manual controls guide has the details.

1. Tap the mode to switch between P, S (shutter priority), ISO (ISO priority) and M. EXP sets exposure compensation in third stops.
2. Open DISP and turn on Grid, Level, the live RGB Histogram and Zebra. Set where the stripes start in Settings › Clipping Threshold.
3. Use FOCUS to pull focus from near to ∞, with a loupe and focus peaking. Or tap a person or pet to have focus and exposure follow them.
4. Set WB to a preset, a Kelvin value from 2500 to 10000 K, or use GREY CARD on something neutral.
5. Load a film. It's live in the viewfinder while the camera captures RAW (ProRAW or plain RAW on Pro iPhones), and you can develop it again with a different film later.

With a Camera Control, light-press to choose Film, Exposure, ISO or Shutter and slide to change it (guide).

What Chobial doesn't do: aperture isn't one of its controls, so on an 18 Pro, Apple's Camera is the place to set the new variable aperture by hand. If you shoot HEIF and want Apple's Styles, the stock Camera is also where they live.

The fair summary

iOS 27 is the biggest step Apple's Camera has taken toward photographers in years. Custom controls help everyone. On the 18 Pro, aperture, shutter, white balance and a histogram cover what most people will set by hand. What's left, manual ISO, zebras, a focus loupe and a live film look on RAW, is what specialist camera apps are for, and there are several good ones: Halide, mood, Chobial and others.

Apple, iPhone and iOS are trademarks of Apple Inc. Chobial is not affiliated with Apple.

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