Apple Reference Image signs sensor data and exposes it through iOS, iPadOS and macOS 27 APIs

Sources: primary, discussion
Summary: Apple states the new Main camera sensor on iPhone 18 Pro signs every pixel it sees, and that Reference mode captures signed sensor data which Private Cloud Compute develops into an unalterable reference image. Apple states that APIs in iOS, iPadOS and macOS 27 let third-party apps display it, and that support for the SynthID standard is coming. Availability begins 2026-09-18.
Why it matters: Authenticity moves into the capture path behind a documented API rather than sitting in metadata that a re-encode drops.
Follow-up: Track the published API surface and any independent verification of the signing chain.