If I choose to begin using iCloud, how do I prevent my phone from being overloaded with all the photos and videos on my laptop? If iCloud maintains all the same photo data and video data on every device it seems like my phone would quickly become clogged.
MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 12.6
See the information on Optimizing photo storage on a device below.
iCloud Photos is a syncing service. Any photo you delete from a device where iCloud Photos is turned on will also be deleted from iCloud and from any other device connected to iCloud Photos. You can potentially reduce the storage space required on a device by turning on Optimize Storage. See the following Apple article for more information: Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support
Apple does not currently offer cloud-only storage for photos. If that is what you want or need, you may want to explore 3rd party options such as Google Photos or Dropbox.
See the information on Optimizing photo storage on a device below.
iCloud Photos is a syncing service. Any photo you delete from a device where iCloud Photos is turned on will also be deleted from iCloud and from any other device connected to iCloud Photos. You can potentially reduce the storage space required on a device by turning on Optimize Storage. See the following Apple article for more information: Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support
Apple does not currently offer cloud-only storage for photos. If that is what you want or need, you may want to explore 3rd party options such as Google Photos or Dropbox.
Probably not -- but if all of your photos were on both devices and you have limited space on your phone, Optimize could result in your having 10GB on your laptop and 1GB even though the number of photos is the same on both devices. See the following from Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support
If you turn on Optimize Storage, iCloud Photos automatically manages the size of your library on your device. Your original photos and videos are stored in iCloud and space-saving versions are kept on your device. Your library is optimized only when you need space, starting with the photos and videos you access least. You can download the original photos and videos over Wi-Fi or cellular when you need them.
If you turn on Optimize, it works automatically and you can't control when and how much it optimizes.
So, if I think that I want a system where I have, for example, 10 gigs of photos and videos on my laptop and 1 gig of photos and videos on my phone, and I would occasionally transfer photos and videos to my laptop, is iCloud not a good choice for me?
Again, I don't want to overwhelm my iPhone with photos and videos archived on my laptop.
Thank you very much. Your information is helpful.
photo management on iCloud
