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iMac Photos does not recognize images on my iPhone 6

I connected my iPhone 6 (iOS 13.7) via USB to my iMac (mid-2011 21.5" OS X 10.13.6). Photos sees my iPhone, and it sees that there are images on the phone, but Photos shows generic icons for the images rather than a thumbnail view of the images. Then when I try to transfer the images from my iPhone to Photos on my iMac, I get a message that the images cannot be added to my Photo library because they may not be supported file types (they are JPG images) or may not contain data (they do because I am able to work with the images on computers. How do I get Photos to recognize the images on my iPhone?


How images on my iPhone appear in Photos on my iMac


The message I get when I try to import images from my iPhone to Photos on my iMac.


Paul

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Sep 15, 2020 11:30 AM

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3 replies

Sep 16, 2020 10:01 AM in response to petrivilino

Hi petrivilino,


We understand you're having issues importing pictures from an iPhone to the Photos application. We're happy to help.


To correct this error disconnect the phone from the computer, then go to Settings > Camera > Formats, and set it to Most Compatible.


You can then go ahead and reconnect the phone to the computer, then follow the steps to import items.

Import photos from a camera or phone using Photos on Mac


We hope this helps. Take care!

Sep 16, 2020 10:13 AM in response to brenden dv

Hi brenden dv,


I looked in Settings>Camera> and I do not see an option to set Format. I have Preserve Settings (which only saves the last settings used in Camera instead of resetting everything to the default settings when Camera is turned off), Grid, Scan QR Codes, Record Video (to set video resolution), Record Slo-mo (to set slo-mo resolution), and Keep Normal Photo (which as to do with HDR photography). I do not have a Format setting.


Paul

Sep 23, 2020 11:11 AM in response to petrivilino

Hi petrivilino,


Thanks for the update!


If your device is missing the option to change the import format, we recommend contacting Apple Support directly to work with their Photos support team. You can connect with them here: Get Support


Just select Mac > Mac Apps > Photos > Errors when migrating or creating a library, to access their direct support options.


Cheers!

iMac Photos does not recognize images on my iPhone 6

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