Apple developing "Apple Reference Image" to verify iPhone photo authenticity

Code discovered in an iOS developer preview beta reveals that Apple is developing a new feature called "Apple Reference Image" to certify the authenticity of photos taken on iPhones. This feature aims to help users distinguish genuine photos from AI-generated or manipulated media. As generative AI makes it increasingly easy to create highly realistic fake images, this feature provides a hardware-linked verification method to combat misinformation and restore trust in digital media. It represents a major step by a leading smartphone manufacturer to address the challenges of AI-generated content at the device level. The system will send photos to a secure cloud environment for certification and assign a unique ID, while preserving privacy by allowing receiving devices to verify authenticity locally. Additionally, a "Transfer with Provenance" option will be available for USB transfers to Mac or PC to retain the verification metadata.