Metadata on Photos & Videos Missing When Downloading From iCloud - WHY APPLE?

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Level 1

9 points

Metadata on Photos & Videos Missing When Downloading From iCloud - WHY APPLE?

I decided to separate some of my images/photos. To say why does not matter to the question.

Downloaded from iCloud using 'Unmodified OriginalsOriginals as captured or imported' yet the metadata like lens, camera, iPhone model the pic was taken on, focal length, is all missing. I even tested the download option for 'Highest ResolutionTypically includes HEIC or H.265 files' Still no luck

Not only that - the download does not come in at full resolution!

Download OPTIONS:

ORIGINAL INFO:

AFTER DOWNLOAD (BOTH OPTIONS DOWNLOADED THE SAME):

Any way to solve this so all original information goes along with the pictures or videos I want to move over? This is crazy

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 14.5

Posted on May 16, 2024 5:35 PM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

195,285 points

May 16, 2024 10:19 PM in response to rmarshall21

Could you give us some additional background information, please?

You wrote, you are downloading from iCloud - are your photos and videos currently syncing with iCloud Photos, or are you using shared albums to transfer the photos and videos to the iPhone? I am asking, because the screenshot taken at the iPhone is showing a video. And transferring videos in Shared albums between is giving exactly the result you are showing: The resolution will be reduced to 720p and metadata like the camera data may be stripped.

Or did you sync the photos and videos back to the iPhone manually from the Finder, without using iCloud ? The manual syncing is also reducing the resolution and syncing them back in a reduced size, optimized for each device model. The video shown in your screenshot is now in a format, that is incompatible with iCloud - there is a crossed out iCloud badge.

When I download the originals from www.icloud.com the resolution of the images and videos remains the same. Some photos and videos have lost the camera tags, but this has been caused by external editors, when I reimported an externally edited photo to Photos.

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