Editing iPhone video in MacBook Photos app

To Destiny241, mingoslkd, bailier, and SnickZ—Just today, I called Apple Support and had a long and fruitful discussion with a gentleman who introduced himself Andrew. His first question was about software and have I missed any updates. Well, wouldn't you know that I had an update pending to macOS 12.6.9. I'd just checked for an update two days ago! (I ran the update after the call. It did not change any behavior in Photos. Oh, well ... .)

Andrew did the remote thing with my laptop, and together we ran through all the behaviors that I've described in this thread. I showed him that I had created a new library and that I could edit a video I'd imported into that new library. He had me import that same video into my System Library. (I had exported one of the offending videos to my desktop, and I imported from there.) So now I'm in my System Library, where I have two copies of the same video sitting side–by–side. One is the original, which entered my library the usual way: via iCloud. The second copy entered when I imported it from my desktop. The original won't let me edit it and displays the "Unsupported Video Format" error; the copy allows editing and does not display the error tag.

Neither Andrew nor I understand what's behind that phenomenon. His next suggestion was to delete my iCloud library (my System Library) and reconstitute it. Andrew showed me how to do it, and I plan to follow his advice soon.

I'll take this opportunity to praise Apple Support, to include this Community. I've dealt with support from other organizations, and I can say that nobody else comes close. I was on the phone with Andrew within two minutes of my clicking the "call" button. Andrew proved to be patient, very familiar with his product, and attentive to my concerns. He allowed me all the time I needed to discuss my problem. We didn't actually "fix" the problem with this call, but Andrew showed me what I need to do to fix it. This experience with the Community and with Apple Support reinforced my decision to stick with Apple products.

First, thanks to the Community Specialists and everyone else who have contributed to this discussion. I went to Apple Support and read about creating a new library to see whether the problem persists. So I created the new library, opened it, and imported exactly one item: The video that I'd created with iMovie. Perhaps to no one's surprise, I could edit that video in the new library. So ...

Next I read up on how to use the Photos Repair Library tool. I've got that running as I write. I know the tool will probably need to run overnight—I have about 25,000 photos in my system library. So I'll wait till the repair tool finishes its work, and I'll come back with a report on the results.

Sorry for the late response. I've used iCloud Photos for a couple of years. Photos >> Preferences >> iCloud shows iCloud Photos and Optimize Mac Storage checked. No—I did not load these videos via a cable. I shot them with my iPhone 13, and they appeared in Photos on my MacBook the same day. The Edit button is still grayed out this morning. I hope I've answered your questions, and I'll look forward to your response. Thank you.

By the way, I've finished what I started. I opened the videos in iMovie, edited them, and made a video that I posted on YouTube. I'm still curious as to why I can't edit video in Photos.

I do understand that Optimized Photos enabled means that full-res photos live in my iCloud storage. So let's see what happens when I click on a still photo that appears alongside my videos. (I shot both stills and video during the shoot.) When I click on a still photo (HEIC), the Edit button is active. When I select a video, however, the Edit button does not respond. That's seems to be the issue we're working on.

The repair took a lot less time than I'd expected—maybe 30 minutes or so. The bad behavior persists, sorry to say, so looks like I'll have to call Apple Support after all.

One thing I have failed to mention: I see in the upper right corner a small triangle with an exclamation point. I click on it, and I get an error message: "Unsupported video format." Huh? I shot the video with an Apple device (iPhone 13). I'm viewing the video on another Apple device (MacBook Pro). How the **** do I get this error?

I've read the article that tries to explain this behavior. It tells me that my iPhone 13 can capture video in the HEVC format. It tells me that my MacBook Pro running "macOS High Sierra or higher" can run video shot in that format. Well, I'm running macOS Monterey, so that should qualify, no ... ?

Should I assume that this mysterious "unsupported video format" thingy has something to do with the inability to edit video in Photos? Or maybe it's just that my 2016 model doesn't have the muscle to work with these videos ... ? But, if that's the case, why could I edit a video in Photos when I worked in a new library?

Well, I'll call Apple Support and see what they have to say.

Thanks for checking in, SnickZ. The Repair Tool exercise and so on took up a lot of my time last night. I plan to connect with Apple Support this evening. I’m eager to hear what they have to say.