Photos from one event--some appear on MacBook, many don't

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Level 1

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Photos from one event--some appear on MacBook, many don't

I would like all of my photos from a wedding to be available on my MacBook photos app so that I can view and edit them more easily than on my iPhone. However, when I connect the phone to the laptop, only a few actually appear on the desktop.

I can access them all on icloud.com. However, I can't edit them there, and they have a different format if I want to download them (.heic), so I have no clue what I can do with them.

Bottomline, how do I convince my laptop that I want ALL of the photos from my iPhone to appear so that I can be the one to decide which ones to import?

Posted on Nov 30, 2021 11:29 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

TonyCollinet

Level 7

23,909 points

Nov 30, 2021 11:40 PM in response to DDDS

Have a look in your phone settings for photos. Underneath iCloud Photos settings, which option is ticked, "Optimise iPhone Storage" or "Download and keep originals"

iCloud is a sync service, not a backup service. It is intended to keep all the files on all your devices syncronised. If you sync your mac to iCloud, then all images in iCloud will be downloaded to your Mac, and all photos on your mac will be uploaded to iCloud, and then synced to your phone. Then all synced photos can be accessed and edited on any device. The biggest benefit is NOT needing to connect your phone to your mac via cable to transfer the images. It all happens automatically.

Some people use cameras as well as iPhones so may have those pictures on their mac which would then also go to their phone. This obviously doesn't apply to you, so you don't need to worry about it.

For more detail, see:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204264

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Answer 2

Dec 2, 2021 4:14 PM in response to DDDS

If you are syncing via iCloud then you should not also try to sync via a USB connection.

Are you sure your icloud sync to mac is setup correctly. What does the sync status say at the bottom of your all photos view? Here is mine (updated just now)

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Answer 3

Nov 30, 2021 1:19 PM in response to DDDS

Do you have "optimise phone storage" selected?

If so, then photos that have been "optimised" so they are removed from the phone and stored only in iCloud will not be available to transfer to your mac.

Why not sync your mac library to iCloud also, so all photos in iCloud appear in your mac library? (Though this will also upload all your mac photos to icloud also.

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Answer 4

DDDS Author

Level 1

5 points

Nov 30, 2021 6:15 PM in response to TonyCollinet

Hmm. I haven't selected "optimise phone storage" because I don't know what it is! But even if I had, why would some photos appear when I connect my phone to my laptop, and others don't? The photos are from the same evening!

Of course, this has been happening no matter the event, time, date, etc.. It's just that now it's so obvious that something's going on that's beyond my comprehension.

If I sync my mac library to iCloud, won't I then not have any photos available to be able to edit at will? Plus, how would I have photos on my mac that didn't first come from my iPhone to begin with? I guess I don't understand the benefit of storing on iCloud unless it's simply for that: storage, and nothing else. I want to be able to edit them.

Hope I'm making sense regarding what my problem is. Thanks for helping out here.

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Answer 5

DDDS Author

Level 1

5 points

Dec 2, 2021 11:27 AM in response to TonyCollinet

Thank you, this is a helpful explanation. Sure enough, I have "optimize iPhone Storage" checked. Why, I then, do only some photos sync to my computer if it's all done automatically? I also have my Mac set up to sync with iCloud photos.

Thanks so much.

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Photos from one event--some appear on MacBook, many don't

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