Now that My Photo Stream has been discontinued, is there any way to get the photos on my iPhone to sync with my MacBook Pro, without using iCloud Photo? With My Photo Stream, I could delete photos from my iPhone but they would not be deleted from my MacBook. My issue with iCloud Photo is that if I want to free up space on my iPhone by deleting some older photos, those photos will also get deleted from the MacBook Pro.
Is there another option?
MacBook Pro 13″, OS X 10.10
You can download copies of your photos and then if you delete them from your device, you will have copies of them.
Archive or make copies of the information you store in iCloud - Apple Support
You can also import photos to your Mac without using iCloud Photos.
Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC - Apple Support
Once you import the photos, you can safely delete them from your phone if you so desire.
You can download copies of your photos and then if you delete them from your device, you will have copies of them.
Archive or make copies of the information you store in iCloud - Apple Support
You can also import photos to your Mac without using iCloud Photos.
Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC - Apple Support
Once you import the photos, you can safely delete them from your phone if you so desire.
Hello David Schwartzer,
Thanks for choosing the Apple Support Communities. We see you want to sync your photos on your iPhone and Mac. iCloud Photos is the best option to do this automatically. What you can do to save space, is set up iCloud Photos to optimize iPhone storage by storing the photos on iCloud and keeping a low-resolution copy on your iPhone. More about this can be found below.
Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support
"Make sure that you have enough storage
The photos and videos that you keep in iCloud Photos use your iCloud storage and your device storage. And as long as you have enough space in iCloud and on your device, you can store as many photos and videos as you like. Learn more about iCloud storage and device storage
If you need more iCloud storage
When you sign up for iCloud, you automatically get 5GB of free storage. If you need more space, and access to premium features, you can upgrade to iCloud+.
Learn how to upgrade to iCloud+
If you need to save space on your device
iCloud Photos keeps all your photos and videos in their original, high-resolution version. To save storage space on your device, you can turn on Optimize Storage.
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 Download Originals, iCloud Photos keeps your original, full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud and on your device.
On your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch
On your Mac
We hope this helps.
Cheers!
Justin, thanks for your response. I do understand how iCloud works. My biggest issue is that if I remove a photo from my iPhone, it will also get deleted from iCloud and from my Mac. Is there any way around that? I would like to protect my photo library on my Mac from having photos deleted.
Hi there David Schwartzer,
With iCloud Photos, any changes made to the photo library will sync to other devices with iCloud Photos enabled including deleting photos/albums.
If you'd like to submit any feedback or suggestions about iCloud Photos, you can do so with this link: Product Feedback
Take care.
My Photo Stream
