Unable to manually sync photos from iPhone to Mac

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Level 1

12 points

Unable to manually sync photos from iPhone to Mac

I need to be able to connect my iPhone to my Mac via a usb-lightning cable (not a problem) and manually sync photos from the phone to the laptop.

I see the following message when attempting to do so:

You can access every photo and video you take from any device. To sync photos from this Mac, turn off iCloud Photos.

I have de-selected Photos in iCloud in System Preferences:

as well as in the Photos app Preferences:

That did not change the message when attempting to sync photos from my connected iPhone, so I restarted both the Mac and the iPhone, reconnected the iPhone, confirmed the above settings are still set, and I still get the same message.

Please let me know how to resolve this.

FYI, my ideal situation would be to keep all devices connected to iCloud, disable any syncing when using cellular data (done on my iPhone) or when the Mac is tethered to the iPhone hotspot (can't see how to do that...?), and have the option to manually sync photos from the phone to the laptop during times when they are not syncing due to only having a cellular / hotspot connection.

If anyone can see a way to make that scenario work, then the disabling of iCloud Photos becomes moot.

Thanks!

MacBook Pro (2020 and later)

Posted on Apr 20, 2021 8:47 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

LACAllen

Level 8

43,416 points

Apr 20, 2021 6:30 PM in response to dang42

As noted in my original post, this would only be happening when I've taken pictures on my phone in an area where I'm using a cellular connection, with the phone set to only sync to iCloud via wifi. So, there's no issue with primary storage being at iCloud since the photos to be transferred haven't yet made it to iCloud and are only on the phone.

Regardless, your reply doesn't address my question as I'm asking why the quoted message is appearing despite having done what it is asking me to do - i.e. "turn off iCloud Photos" on my laptop.

Syncing photos from your phone >< your Mac is not the same as transferring them.

For transferring, see >>> https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201302#importmac

For syncing, see >>> https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210612

These are two similar but different processes. Only syncing requires iCloud Photos to be disabled.

I don't know why the error messages persists, but turning off iCloud would be both on the Mac and your phone.

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Answer 2

LACAllen

Level 8

43,416 points

Apr 20, 2021 12:13 PM in response to dang42

I need to be able to connect my iPhone to my Mac via a usb-lightning cable (not a problem) and manually sync photos from the phone to the laptop.

I see the following message when attempting to do so:

You can access every photo and video you take from any device. To sync photos from this Mac, turn off iCloud Photos.

I'm afraid it's one photo syncing strategy or the other.

If you sync via USB you can't sync via iCloud.

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

194,889 points

Apr 20, 2021 12:59 PM in response to dang42

You will see this message, when you try to sync photos from the Mac to the iPhone manually. This is not possible, if iCloud Photos is enabled on the iPhone. using iCloud Photos on the Mac does not matter for this.

When you connect the iPhone to a USB port you can still download photos from the iPhone with Image Capture or the Photos.app (not with the device syncing).

But I cannot recommend to use this method, if iCloud Photos is enabled on the iPhone, because it will give random results. The primary storage of the photos will be in iCloud and not on the iPhone. There are no photos to download from the iPhone, only mirrored copies, currently downloaded from iCloud. These copies will appear as new files whenever you try to download them from iPhone, and you are risking to import duplicates or missing photos, that are currently optimised on the iPhone.

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Answer 4

dang42 Author

Level 1

12 points

Apr 20, 2021 3:38 PM in response to léonie

As noted in my original post, this would only be happening when I've taken pictures on my phone in an area where I'm using a cellular connection, with the phone set to only sync to iCloud via wifi. So, there's no issue with primary storage being at iCloud since the photos to be transferred haven't yet made it to iCloud and are only on the phone.

Regardless, your reply doesn't address my question as I'm asking why the quoted message is appearing despite having done what it is asking me to do - i.e. "turn off iCloud Photos" on my laptop.

Unless you're saying the message implies I also need to turn off iCloud Photos on the phone?

Also, your first sentence reads, "You will see this message, when you try to sync photos from the Mac to the iPhone manually."

As noted in my original post, I am doing the opposite - moving photos from the phone to the laptop... Though, since in the direction you're talking about (which is reverse from what I've asked) you state clearly that having iCloud Photos active on the source system is irrelevant, I assume having it active on the actual source system - the phone in this case - would also not matter.

If you get a chance, could you please clarify your reply? Thanks!

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Answer 5

dang42 Author

Level 1

12 points

Apr 21, 2021 10:41 AM in response to LACAllen

Ahh, excellent!

I (obviously) didn't know there was a distinction being made between "transferring" and "syncing" - I just want a subset of new pics moved from my phone to my laptop without using the internet and not causing future problems when everything is back on wifi and does actually sync with iCloud. Based on your reply and some testing I did yesterday it appears using the transfer instructions will meet my needs nicely.

Thanks!!!

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Answer 6

LACAllen

Level 8

43,416 points

Apr 21, 2021 12:13 PM in response to dang42

dang42 wrote:

Ahh, excellent!

I (obviously) didn't know there was a distinction being made between "transferring" and "syncing" - I just want a subset of new pics moved from my phone to my laptop without using the internet and not causing future problems when everything is back on wifi and does actually sync with iCloud. Based on your reply and some testing I did yesterday it appears using the transfer instructions will meet my needs nicely.

Thanks!!!

you are welcome

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Unable to manually sync photos from iPhone to Mac

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