I am comparing the Camera app on two iPhones below—an iPhone 12 Pro running iOS 26.6.2 and an iPhone 13 Pro running iOS 27.
When I compare the available Camera modes, I do not see any difference in the actual list of modes. The modes are essentially the same on both devices:
iOS 27 – iPhone 13 Pro:
Timelapse → Slo-Mo → Cinematic → Video → Photo → Portrait → Pano
iOS 26.6.2 – iPhone 12 Pro:
Timelapse → Slo-Mo → Video → Photo → Portrait → Pano
Note: Although Cinematic appears in the sequence shown above, Cinematic mode is not supported on the iPhone 12 Pro. Its availability is therefore dependent on the iPhone model, not simply on whether the device is running iOS 26 or iOS 27.
The main difference I notice between the two versions is the orientation/layout of the Camera controls, buttons, and keys, rather than a change in the Camera mode lineup itself.
The same principle applies to features such as Spatial. If Spatial capture is supported by a particular iPhone model—for example, an iPhone 16 Pro—the Spatial option should be available based on the device's hardware support and would not suddenly become an iOS 27-only feature. In other words, iOS determines the software functionality and interface, while the iPhone model determines whether certain hardware-dependent camera features are supported.
Therefore, simply seeing a particular Camera mode or feature in iOS 27 does not necessarily mean that it was newly introduced with iOS 27. Some features are already present in iOS 26 but are displayed differently or are enabled only on compatible iPhone models.
