4 new Apple intelligence features found in Apple code, likely in iOS 27

At a glance:

• Visual Intelligence may soon scan nutrition labels and add printed contacts directly from photos
• Wallet could auto‑create digital passes from tickets, gym cards and similar items
• Safari is rumored to name Tab Groups automatically based on their contents

What the code reveals

Researchers led by Nicolás Alvarez dug into Apple’s internal source repositories and uncovered a set of strings that map to new system‑level AI capabilities. The findings were cross‑checked by MacRumors, which confirmed that the identifiers line up with upcoming features slated for iOS 27. While the team cautions that code names do not guarantee a shipped product, the breadth of the identifiers suggests a coordinated push to embed “Apple Intelligence” deeper into core apps.

The discovery follows Apple’s broader AI roadmap, which includes a revamped Siri that will act as a cross‑app assistant. The timing aligns with the company’s June Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) preview, where iOS 27 is expected to be announced, and a September public release that traditionally coincides with new iPhone launches.

Visual intelligence extensions

One branch of the code points to two new Visual Intelligence use‑cases. The first appears to enable a camera‑based scan of food nutrition labels, extracting macro‑nutrient data and feeding it into the Health app. This would give users an instant view of calories, sugars and allergens without manual entry, echoing the functionality already present for QR codes and business cards.

The second Visual Intelligence capability seems designed to recognize printed phone numbers and street addresses, offering to add them directly to the Contacts app. Apple already supports adding calendar events from photographed flyers; extending the same logic to contacts would close a long‑standing gap in the ecosystem’s on‑device data capture.

Wallet pass generation

Another set of strings lives inside the Wallet app’s backend. They suggest that iOS 27 will be able to generate digital passes from scanned items such as event tickets, gym membership cards, and similar paper‑based credentials. Google Wallet on Android already provides a comparable AI‑driven pass‑creation flow, and Apple’s move would bring parity while keeping the experience locked to the iOS ecosystem.

The feature would likely rely on on‑device machine‑learning models to parse barcodes, QR codes and even unstructured text, then automatically populate the appropriate fields in a new PassKit object. Users could then add the pass to Wallet with a single tap, streamlining entry to venues and facilities.

Safari tab‑group naming

In the browser realm, the code reveals an AI helper that would auto‑name Tab Groups based on the dominant topics of the open tabs. For example, a group containing travel sites, airline confirmations and hotel bookings might be labeled “Trip to Tokyo” without user intervention. This mirrors Apple’s recent push to make Safari’s organization tools more context‑aware.

The naming engine would run locally, analyzing page titles, URLs and possibly page content to generate concise, human‑readable labels. By reducing the friction of manual naming, Apple hopes to encourage power users to adopt Tab Groups more widely, improving multitasking on iPhone and iPad.

Timeline and rollout

Apple is slated to unveil iOS 27 at WWDC in June 2026, with a public rollout in September alongside the next generation of iPhone hardware. Historically, Apple introduces major AI features in a staged fashion—first as beta functionality for developers, then to the broader user base. If the Visual Intelligence and Wallet enhancements are confirmed, they will likely debut as part of the initial iOS 27 release, with Safari’s Tab Group naming possibly arriving in a subsequent point update.

Analysts see these additions as part of Apple’s strategy to differentiate its hardware through software‑level intelligence, especially as competitors roll out their own on‑device AI suites. The integration of AI into everyday utilities—health tracking, payment passes, and web browsing—could also deepen user lock‑in, a key metric for Apple’s services revenue growth.