I have "optimize mac storage" turned on in Apple Photos and all my videos freeze at the same point of playback, 1min 12 sec. It's doing it on my M2 MacBook Air and M1 Mac Mini. I can export the videos to a folder and they download in full and playback correctly in Quicktime. The videos I've exported also then playback properly in Apple Photos, but the ones I haven't exported freeze at the same point? Any ideas, thanks?
What happens if you try to edit one of these videos? That will sometimes force a download of the full version from iCloud.com.
Sometimes when I've had a similar problem, I've solved it by repairing the Library. To do that you close Photos and re-launch the app by option-command-clicking the app icon. You'll get a window with dialog asking if you want to repair. Repairing the Library may confuse iCloud for a while, so you may need to be patient.
What happens if you try to edit one of these videos? That will sometimes force a download of the full version from iCloud.com.
Sometimes when I've had a similar problem, I've solved it by repairing the Library. To do that you close Photos and re-launch the app by option-command-clicking the app icon. You'll get a window with dialog asking if you want to repair. Repairing the Library may confuse iCloud for a while, so you may need to be patient.
Another option is to turn off "Optimize Mac Storage," something I did a while ago. If you have room on your Mac's drive, all the pictures will be downloaded in full resolution, probably taking days or weeks. If you then turn Optimize back on, the library files will be downsized as needed, leaving full sized images while there is room.
I think we have to accept this behavior as a reasonable consequence of the "Optimize" selection. You see your pictures with only screen resolution and, since movies are typically at lower resolution, already, you see videos with shorter length. As you discovered, editing brings back the full resolution image and the full length video.
but the ones I haven't exported freeze at the same point?
It appears that the videos that freeze are the optimized version and the first 1 min 12 sec are OK and the rest are comprised. Why the first 1:12? I'm guessing to let know get a preview of what the video is about so you can tell if you want to download the full sized version to play or not.
This is only a guess as I don't use iCloud Library so have no first hand experience with it.
Where is the local copy of your Photos Library stored? Is it in your Pictures folder or on an external volume?
How much free storage is on internal drive?
Both stored on the internal drive. 25Gb free on the Mac Mini and 100Gb free on the MacBook Air. I just tried playing the same video from photos on the iPad and it played all the way through. Might be a MacOS problem?
If I try to edit the video it downloads and plays correctly afterwards. I tried repairing the library before asking on here, and it completed okay, but no joy with fixing the issue unfortunately.
Unfortunately I don’t have the space on the drive to turn optimize off.
Video playback freezes at 1 min 12 sec on all my videos?
