The new automated "Panorama" feature included in the Camera app in iOS 6 will work with the new iPhone 5, the fifth-generation iPod touch... and the iPhone 4S. The feature won't be available on the iPhone 4 or earlier, or older iPod touches, apparently due to hardware constraints.
Apple demoed the new panorama feature for the iPhone 5 and fifth-gen iPod touch yesterday during the special media event introducing both devices. Apple also confirmed to TUAW that the feature will be available to iPhone 4S users as well.
It appears that the panorama feature, which uses a combination of gyroscope and camera input to automatically align, stitch together, and balance the exposure of multiple images into a seamless 240° panoramic view, requires serious processing power to work as well as it does. It is able to create panoramas up to 28 megapixels in size. While other panorama apps exist and are compatible with older hardware, processing times can be long, and the results aren't always as seamless as those promised by Apple. A dual-core processor appears to be needed, according the Apple; the A5 processor in the iPhone 4S and fifth-gen iPod touch, and the new A6 processor in the iPhone 5 fit the bill.
Though the third-generation iPad has a 5MP iSight camera (similar to the one in the new iPod touch) as well as a capable dual-core A5X processor, it doesn't appear that the feature will carry over to the iPad. For what it's worth, the iPad also lacks HDR shooting, which is another software-only feature.
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