How to save original timestamp of photo airdropped to Mac

If you’re using Finder’s Get Info window, that’s showing the file’s creation date, not the photo’s capture date, which is part of its EXIF metadata.

To see the EXIF data, create a Finder folder, add the image to it, change folder view to column. Now click on the Action Pull down and select Show View Options. You’ll see a tall window, select the metadata you want to see.

Although one can optionally view limited EXIF data from a photo, the Finder has no provision for revealing the DateTimeOriginal field in Show Preview/Show Preview Options. Spotlight (Terminal using mdls) has a property that can reveal the EXIF DateTimeOriginal stamp, though it is shown in 24-hr UTC 0 time, and not adjusted for the local time zone, or DST:

mdls -raw -name -kMDItemContentCreationDate image.jpg | image.RAW

For original images downloaded directly from an iPhone via Image Capture, or directly from my Nokia N9 mounted to the Desktop via USB, and dragged into the Pictures folder — in every instance, the Finder's creation date/time stamp matches the internal EXIF DateTimeOriginal stamp within the image. Do this on Linux, or Windows, and then transfer the image to Mac, and Finder won't use the internal EXIF timestamp, and will use the current time for the creation date.

For images originally saved from either phone source to my Mac, I see no change in creation date when the file is copied or moved on the same Mac, to iCloud Drive, or even AirDropped to another Mac. I have tested this thoroughly and cannot reproduce your issue based on the information provided.

Have you tested this with images that have been taken on the phone a few days before you copy them to Finder? This way the date difference would be more apparent.

For me, Get Info always shows the date the actual Finder FILE creation date.

I owe you an apology. I looked in Show Preview options again, and somehow, I originally overlooked that Content Created option. So yes, that is the EXIF DateTimeOriginal content.

I have looked at images taken from either of my phones in 2014, through this year. In any case, the Finder creation date matches the internal image's EXIF DateTimeOriginal time stamp.

There is a field labeled Content Created which in all cases I checked corresponded to the Creation Date shown in Photos.