I've been moving pictures around and usually the created and modified dates are the the same, the date I copied the file.
Supposedly the created date is supposed to remain and the modified date is supposed show the date it was copied/moved.
And, it gets worse...
Is there a cure, or is one in the works?
MacBook Pro (M1, 2020)
First off, I noticed you are using the iCloud drive. The speed of changes on the iCloud drive for backup can be very slow unless you have a high speed upstream connection of better than 50 Mbps, which typically is only available with true fiberoptic connections.
The photo you take usually also has a separate EXIF meta data incorporated in the document. Apple Photos when it opens the document should allow you to Get Info with command-I and get more information about the photo.
If you tell Photos to not copy items to the Photos library, in the Photos menu -> Preferences, by unchecking the option to copy them, you will strictly be managing the original file in its original location, when you go and import it.
While on iCloud you are depending on Apple's own internal backup of their machines in Texas and California to be able to recover data. It is highly recommended that you Option key drag the file onto On my Mac folders in the Finder. If your Mac only has 128 GB hard drive, get an external hard drive to copy them to. That way if iCloud is down, your internet is down, or your iCloud folder gets corrupted or too full, you'll be able to access the files.
First off, I noticed you are using the iCloud drive. The speed of changes on the iCloud drive for backup can be very slow unless you have a high speed upstream connection of better than 50 Mbps, which typically is only available with true fiberoptic connections.
The photo you take usually also has a separate EXIF meta data incorporated in the document. Apple Photos when it opens the document should allow you to Get Info with command-I and get more information about the photo.
If you tell Photos to not copy items to the Photos library, in the Photos menu -> Preferences, by unchecking the option to copy them, you will strictly be managing the original file in its original location, when you go and import it.
While on iCloud you are depending on Apple's own internal backup of their machines in Texas and California to be able to recover data. It is highly recommended that you Option key drag the file onto On my Mac folders in the Finder. If your Mac only has 128 GB hard drive, get an external hard drive to copy them to. That way if iCloud is down, your internet is down, or your iCloud folder gets corrupted or too full, you'll be able to access the files.
File dates (create and modify) are quite fragile so look at the internal metadata dates instead (although social media like Facebook, WhatsApp etc usually nuke also them).
That said, I prefer to sync those file dates to the internal metadata dates (and also to the quite robust file names) with 3rd party tool like GraphicConverter, Better Finder Rename, exiftool etc.
I wish macOS has a similar build-in option because this is a FAQ and creates unnecessary bad user experience.
Changing dates on picture internal data.
