On iPhone 18 Pro you can find a photo by describing it in a sentence, and you can build a memory movie by typing a one-line description. Both features run on Apple Intelligence, and Apple Support’s current guide lists the steps: tap Search in Photos and describe what you want, or go to Collections > Memories > Create and enter a description.
The iPhone 18 Pro ships with iOS 27, and Apple Support’s step lists are still the current-generation guide, so the on-screen wording may differ slightly once iOS 27 ships on September 14. The features themselves are established: Apple’s requirements page lists iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 16 models with iOS 18.1 or later, and every iPhone 18 Pro qualifies. The new phone adds a second route to the same result, because Apple’s iOS 27 page says Siri AI’s personal context can search for a photo from years ago.
Key facts: requirements and where the features live
| Item | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Search entry point | Photos > Search, then describe the photo | Apple Support |
| Memory movie entry point | Photos > Collections > Memories > Create | Apple Support |
| Apple’s example search | “Maya skateboarding in a tie-dye shirt” | Apple Support |
| Minimum iPhone | iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 or later | Apple Support |
| Minimum software | iOS 18.1 (iOS 18.4 or later in the EU) | Apple Support |
| Not available | Devices purchased in China mainland, or with an Apple Account region of China mainland | Apple Support |
| iPhone 18 Pro software | iOS 27 preinstalled | Apple’s tech specs |
How to search Photos with a description
Apple’s guide keeps this short. The steps are:
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- Open Photos and tap Search.
- Describe what you are looking for in plain language. Apple’s own example is “Maya skateboarding in a tie-dye shirt,” which combines a named person, an activity and a clothing detail in one query.
- Tap See All to expand the results.
- Use Select to pick photos, and Sort or Filter to narrow the results.
Apple’s example uses a person’s name, and that works only if the person is named in Photos. The same guide’s Image Playground section says a person from your library must be named in Photos to be used there, so naming people in the People collection pays off in both features. Combining a person, an action and a color or object is the pattern Apple demonstrates.
How to build a memory movie from a description
- Open Photos and go to Collections.
- Tap Memories.
- Tap Create.
- Enter a description of the movie you want.
- Tap Done.
Apple’s guide does not list controls for length, music or which photos the movie picks; the description is the only input it describes. That is the same page that covers Clean Up, where Apple says to open a photo, tap Edit, tap Clean Up, then tap, brush or circle what you want to remove and tap Done. If a memory movie includes a photo you would rather fix first, Clean Up is two taps away in the same app.
Photos search vs Siri AI: two ways to find one picture
| Photos search | Siri AI (iOS 27) | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Photos app, Search tab | Siri, typed or spoken, and the Siri app |
| Apple’s description | Describe the photo, tap See All, then Select, Sort or Filter | “Search for a photo from years ago” |
| Status | Shipping, Apple Support guide published | Beta, English first, subject to daily usage limits |
| Requirement | Apple Intelligence iPhone, iOS 18.1 or later | Apple Intelligence iPhone, iOS 27; not initially in the EU on iOS |
The Photos route has published steps and no beta label. Siri AI’s version is broader, since Apple’s iOS 27 page says it can also locate an email buried in your inbox or pull up a note, but Apple has not published its exact photo-search steps and labels Siri AI as beta on the iPhone 18 Pro page. Our iOS 27 release date guide covers the beta’s language and region limits.
If it does not work
Check three things. First, Apple Intelligence must be turned on; Apple Support’s requirements page ties both features to it. Second, in the EU the minimum is iOS 18.4 rather than 18.1, though iPhone 18 Pro ships past both. Third, Apple says the features are not available on devices purchased in China mainland or on accounts with a China mainland region. If a named-person search returns nothing, confirm the person is named in Photos. Apple’s iOS 27 page also notes that usage limits may apply to Photos’ AI editing tools, so a stalled edit may be a limit rather than a fault; the iPhone 18 Pro official guide lists the phone’s full Apple Intelligence feature set.
What Apple has not said
- An iOS 27 version of the Photos search and memory movie step lists; the steps above are the current guide.
- Whether memory movies offer length, music or photo-selection controls beyond the description.
- Whether usage limits apply to natural-language search or memory movies, as they do to Spatial Reframing, Extend and Clean Up.
- The exact steps for Siri AI’s photo search, or when it leaves beta.
iOS 27 arrives Monday, September 14 as a free update, and iPhone 18 Pro pre-orders open Saturday, September 12 at 5 a.m. PT from $1,199, with the phone available Friday, September 18, according to Apple’s press release. The iPhone 18 Pro camera guide explains the variable aperture that will fill the library these tools search.
