Photos will not import from iphone to MacOS Photos app

Hello WalkBikeBus,

Thanks for asking the Apple Support Communities about importing photos.

Try with Image Capture. Anytime there are issues with importing with Photos, Image Capture usually doesn't have the same issues.

Transfer images in Image Capture on Mac - Apple Support

If it also has issues, we know there is an issue with the photos. Instead of selecting all, choose 10 at a time, and see if they sync. Once you have an issue, then try those individually, see which photo caused it. Delete it and try the rest. There might be multiple photos with issues, you may need to complete these steps more than once.

Thanks.

I have been having the same issue for months, i.e. photos from my iPhone were not importing to the Photos app on the Mac. It always appeared to be an iffy operation. Once in a while, when I clicked on "Imported Selected" in Photos, it actually worked. But most of the time, nothing happened. No photos were imported. Until today, I finally figured out how to do it with reliable success. I want to share it here as a public service gesture in the new year.

First a word about my setup:

> M1 MacBook Air (latest version = Sonoma 14.2.1

> iPhone Pro 14 (latest version = iOS 17.2.1)

> My photo library is on a Western Digital external drive with over 130,000 photos/videos

This is how I'm getting the photos imported out of my iPhone onto the external drive via Photos. It's so simple, but it works. Who knew it could be so simple. I hope it works for others.

1) Often Photos will NOT show the photos on the iPhone even when connected by wire. To get the photo thumbnails displayed, I need to take the additional step of accessing the iPhone (such as with a face scan).

2) To start importing the photos, you have to select photos from TOP of the thumbnails list. I used to do it from the bottom of the list, and it nearly never worked. Photos would just jump to the Imports tab, but no photos were being imported. I found if I select and import from TOP of the thumbnails list, then the import will work successfully EVERY TIME!

Not sure why Apple would, in Photos, make such a finicky and buggy product, but this is how I made it work for me. I hope these tips help other Apple users.

mac mini m2 pro os 14.1.2

iPhone 15 pro max ios 17.1.2

Connect iphone > No software appeared.

No way to import new photos.

Created new library > import failed.

Same procedure with iphone 12 pro ios 17.1.2 works :-0

There is a BUG.

What format is hat external drive? It needs to be formatted Mac OS X Extended, Journaled or apfs.

APFS

Well that blows that theory... :)