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User profile for user: Rob_Ainscough
Rob_Ainscough Author
User level: Level 1
29 points

iPhone 13 Max Pro - unable to copy 4K 60Hz videos longer than 5 mins to my PC?

I've got a bizarre problem, today I recorded a longer 17+ min 4K 60Hz video. I can playback the video on my iPhone 13 Max Pro just fine, all good.


BUT, when I plug my iPhone 13 into my Win10 PC and navigate to DCIM to locate my .MOV video, it doesn't show up? All my other files shorter .MOV videos are there and I can copy them to my PC.


So I tried to upload this one longer video to my Google Drive ... iPhone says "preparing" and that takes about 15-20 minutes, the brings up Google Drive and I select the video and hit "upload" and immediate get an error saying my wireless connection is down?? Huh?? I'm 10 feet away from the wireless ISP router and have full set of wireless curves (full strength) and all my other devices are working fine with wireless. So clearly there is nothing wrong with my connection.


So I log into my iCloud.com account and check my photos/videos there and I see all my pictures from the day, but not my longer 17+ min video?


I contact Apple online chat/support and I go thru a long chat with a support person. He had me:


  1. power on/off my phone
  2. made sure I had the 15.0.1 OS version
  3. check my iCloud.com account


All was as it should be but still can't copy my video to anything else (not iCloud.com, not Google Drive, not my PC). I got a case number and the support person told me a senior technical rep will call me in 5-15 minutes ... so 1 hour later and NO call from any at Apple support.


So I do my own research (quick google search) and I see many many many other users of iPhone that have made larger/longer videos are unable to see/copy them to another devices. This problems seems to have gone back to iPhone 10 and NO solutions?


The Apple online support rep suggested it's a "bug" in their software ... but a bug that seems to have persisted for at least 4 generations of iPhone?? That doesn't sound plausible to me ... this sounds more like "by design" than a "bug".


Anyway, since I have a case number, BUT Apple support have NOT called me as promised, does anyone else have a potential solution to this problem of moving larger video files from an iPhone to another medium (i.e. PC, Google Drive, iCloud.com)? Like I said earlier, I know the video file is fine as I've played it back on my iPhone 13 Max Pro without issue ... but I need to move this file to my PC, help?


Cheers, Rob.


Cheers, Rob.

iPhone 13 Pro Max, iOS 15

Posted on Oct 9, 2021 10:55 PM

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User profile for user: Rob_Ainscough
Rob_Ainscough Author
User level: Level 1
29 points

Posted on Oct 10, 2021 3:14 PM

The resolution to this problem is going to be unacceptable to anyone that doesn't have a Mac and shoots 4K 60FPS HDR video that is over 4GB file size (so definitely do NOT use Camera ProRAW mode). The issues appears to be entirely manufactured by Apple marketing as leverage/strategy to encourage users to NOT use Win10 PC and use a Mac and/or buy more iCloud storage.


Apple support was very "helpful" ... I spoke with three 4th tier "specialists" over the phone and whom took control of my iPhone 13 Pro Max to see what they could do. But, ultimately ended up suggesting this is a Microsoft problem for not supporting the iPhone correctly ... which is a false statement because I can see all my other MOV files (in Win10 file explorer) upto 4GB size from my iPhone, just not the ones over 4GB which is entirely an issue with how iOS manages files (32bit vs 64bit).


The diagnostics attempts (mostly driven by Apple Support) that failed:


  1. Manually uploading file to iCloud via the "Files" app on my iPhone (upload completed but didn't show up on iCloud.com).
  2. Trying to convert or export the file to another "compatible" format (the MAC or PC compatibility option enabled).
  3. Installing Win10 HEVC and HEIC codecs via MS Store.
  4. Making sure Win10 is fully updated.
  5. Installing iTunes for Windows to get the drivers needed.
  6. Using Win10 Photo app to "Import" files from "connected USB device" ... the videos were visible but when selected and import it failed with an error (try again no success).
  7. Uploading the video from my iPhone to my Google drive.
  8. Updating my iPhone iOS from 15.0.0 to 15.0.1.


What worked was to disable iCloud sync of my photo/videos, reboot my iPhone, turn back ON iCloud Sync and wait and wait and wait (could take days and must be on wifi) for the large video files to eventually sync/upload to iCloud.com. But, for large files (i.e. 9.2GB 4K 60FPS) once iPhone Photos app shows "Updated Just Now", then log into iCloud.com and you will get a "caution" icon for the video file. I have no idea why there is a "caution" icon, but from here you can then select the large/long video file and click on iCloud download icon and again wait for the download (which should be faster since most folk have higher download speeds than upload).


This is the ONLY way I could get my HEVC video onto my Win10 PC. Obviously uploading to iCloud.com is NOT going to be practical for anyone that does a lot of long videos at 4K 60FPS and certainly not if ProRAW is enabled (100GB for 10 mins of video).


The Apple support engineer suggested I go thru feedback process to get Apple to make changes ... however, I had already researched "feedback" and there are MANY users already providing the exact same feedback/issue as I had/have going back years to the iPhone 10. When feedback is ignored, that usually means it's a marketing leverage decision, which is a shame.


However, one should be aware that there is NO LEGAL context that I have agreed to when purchasing my iPhone 13 Pro Max ... nothing that states that iCloud.com is required in order to get/transfer videos I've created off my iPhone 13 when file size exceeds 4GB. Trust me, I've gone thru EVERY EULA and agreement that Apple present and not a single item/verbiage indicating this restriction of use on longer videos. Which in my opinion is opening the door to class action lawsuit.


I hope Apple do the right thing, but I suspect that will not happen given the history/age of this problem.


Hopefully this information helps those MANY users that have posted and run into this very same problem.


Cheers, Rob.

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User profile for user: Rob_Ainscough
Rob_Ainscough Author
User level: Level 1
29 points

Oct 10, 2021 3:14 PM in response to Rob_Ainscough

The resolution to this problem is going to be unacceptable to anyone that doesn't have a Mac and shoots 4K 60FPS HDR video that is over 4GB file size (so definitely do NOT use Camera ProRAW mode). The issues appears to be entirely manufactured by Apple marketing as leverage/strategy to encourage users to NOT use Win10 PC and use a Mac and/or buy more iCloud storage.


Apple support was very "helpful" ... I spoke with three 4th tier "specialists" over the phone and whom took control of my iPhone 13 Pro Max to see what they could do. But, ultimately ended up suggesting this is a Microsoft problem for not supporting the iPhone correctly ... which is a false statement because I can see all my other MOV files (in Win10 file explorer) upto 4GB size from my iPhone, just not the ones over 4GB which is entirely an issue with how iOS manages files (32bit vs 64bit).


The diagnostics attempts (mostly driven by Apple Support) that failed:


  1. Manually uploading file to iCloud via the "Files" app on my iPhone (upload completed but didn't show up on iCloud.com).
  2. Trying to convert or export the file to another "compatible" format (the MAC or PC compatibility option enabled).
  3. Installing Win10 HEVC and HEIC codecs via MS Store.
  4. Making sure Win10 is fully updated.
  5. Installing iTunes for Windows to get the drivers needed.
  6. Using Win10 Photo app to "Import" files from "connected USB device" ... the videos were visible but when selected and import it failed with an error (try again no success).
  7. Uploading the video from my iPhone to my Google drive.
  8. Updating my iPhone iOS from 15.0.0 to 15.0.1.


What worked was to disable iCloud sync of my photo/videos, reboot my iPhone, turn back ON iCloud Sync and wait and wait and wait (could take days and must be on wifi) for the large video files to eventually sync/upload to iCloud.com. But, for large files (i.e. 9.2GB 4K 60FPS) once iPhone Photos app shows "Updated Just Now", then log into iCloud.com and you will get a "caution" icon for the video file. I have no idea why there is a "caution" icon, but from here you can then select the large/long video file and click on iCloud download icon and again wait for the download (which should be faster since most folk have higher download speeds than upload).


This is the ONLY way I could get my HEVC video onto my Win10 PC. Obviously uploading to iCloud.com is NOT going to be practical for anyone that does a lot of long videos at 4K 60FPS and certainly not if ProRAW is enabled (100GB for 10 mins of video).


The Apple support engineer suggested I go thru feedback process to get Apple to make changes ... however, I had already researched "feedback" and there are MANY users already providing the exact same feedback/issue as I had/have going back years to the iPhone 10. When feedback is ignored, that usually means it's a marketing leverage decision, which is a shame.


However, one should be aware that there is NO LEGAL context that I have agreed to when purchasing my iPhone 13 Pro Max ... nothing that states that iCloud.com is required in order to get/transfer videos I've created off my iPhone 13 when file size exceeds 4GB. Trust me, I've gone thru EVERY EULA and agreement that Apple present and not a single item/verbiage indicating this restriction of use on longer videos. Which in my opinion is opening the door to class action lawsuit.


I hope Apple do the right thing, but I suspect that will not happen given the history/age of this problem.


Hopefully this information helps those MANY users that have posted and run into this very same problem.


Cheers, Rob.

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iPhone 13 Max Pro - unable to copy 4K 60Hz videos longer than 5 mins to my PC?

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