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iPhone 11 live photos not live on Mac running Catalina

I'm taking live photos with an iPhone 11 Pro Max running 13.5.1, and they arrive via iCloud in the 'My Photo Stream' of my brand new iMac 3.6 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9 running Catalina 10.15.5, but they are not live. My understanding is that they are supposed to be viewable and editable as live photos once they arrive at my iMac. Is there something I have to do to ensure they are transferred as live? I do have Photos set on my iMac to automatically play videos and live photos, so it's not that. I'm flummoxed!

iMac 27″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jul 6, 2020 6:43 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 6, 2020 10:36 AM

My Photo Stream does not transfer any video, only still frames. The live part of your Live Photo is a video component, so My Photo Stream will only transfer the high resolution still frame of the Live Photos. see: My Photo Stream - Apple Support

Photo formats that you can use with My Photo Stream. My Photo Stream supports JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and most RAW photo formats. My Photo Stream doesn't support video or Live Photos.


To transfer your your Live Photos alive, delete the still frames from your Mac, that you already imported from your iPhone with My Photos Stream, disable My Photo Stream and empty the Recently Deleted Album in Photos. Now connect the iPhone with a cable directly to your Mac and import the missing items - any videos you have taken, the Live Photos or Portrait Mode photos. Import photos from a camera or phone using Photos on Mac - Apple Support


If you are taking Live Photos and videos on your iPhone, you may want to stop using My Photo Stream, because it will just complicate the import from your iPhone. Import the items directly or switch to iCloud Photos.

iCloud Photos is the easiest way to transfer the photos and all adjustments you applied on the iPhone.


Use iCloud Photos to store photos in iCloud - Apple Support



3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 6, 2020 10:36 AM in response to MsFjordstone

My Photo Stream does not transfer any video, only still frames. The live part of your Live Photo is a video component, so My Photo Stream will only transfer the high resolution still frame of the Live Photos. see: My Photo Stream - Apple Support

Photo formats that you can use with My Photo Stream. My Photo Stream supports JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and most RAW photo formats. My Photo Stream doesn't support video or Live Photos.


To transfer your your Live Photos alive, delete the still frames from your Mac, that you already imported from your iPhone with My Photos Stream, disable My Photo Stream and empty the Recently Deleted Album in Photos. Now connect the iPhone with a cable directly to your Mac and import the missing items - any videos you have taken, the Live Photos or Portrait Mode photos. Import photos from a camera or phone using Photos on Mac - Apple Support


If you are taking Live Photos and videos on your iPhone, you may want to stop using My Photo Stream, because it will just complicate the import from your iPhone. Import the items directly or switch to iCloud Photos.

iCloud Photos is the easiest way to transfer the photos and all adjustments you applied on the iPhone.


Use iCloud Photos to store photos in iCloud - Apple Support



Jul 6, 2020 10:36 AM in response to léonie

Thanks, this is great, and very helpful. It's absolutely infuriating that Apple can't make this happen via My Photo Stream, or at least have a pop-up dialogue suggesting that, since you are attempting to transfer live photos, you should instead do it one of those other ways. Most people probably have no idea they are losing their live photos. I'm switching to iCloud Photos.

Jul 6, 2020 10:46 AM in response to MsFjordstone

I suspect, that Apple is about to abandon my Photo Stream. Users with a new AppleID cannot even activate it. And My Photo Stream has not been updated for a long time to support new image formats.


The future is iCloud Photos. It is making it really easy to get the photos from your iPhone to your other devices. It does not just transfer the original files, it is a complete syncing. Any adjustments you apply on to the photos and videos will appear on the other device as well. And any photo you delete on your iPhone will be deleted from the Photos Library on your Mac. So do not keep more photos in the Photos Library on your Mac than will fit onto your iPhone.

iPhone 11 live photos not live on Mac running Catalina

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