Can't import from iPhone 12 mini to Photos in Mac Mini

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Can't import from iPhone 12 mini to Photos in Mac Mini

I have a 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i3 Mac mini with Sonoma 14.4.1 installed, and I'm using an Apple USB cable to connect my iPhone 12 mini with iOS 17.4.1 installed. The iPhone shows up in Photos, with about 15 photos/videos that are identified as New Items. I've tried "import all new items" and I've tried selecting one photo and "import selected". When I click either of those buttons, the Photos screen changes to "imports" but nothing actually happens... no importing.

I have restarted both the iPhone and the Mac, and tried again. No success. I have also tried Reseting "Location & Privacy". I clicked Trust Computer. Still no success.

The photo library for my computer is stored on an external solid state drive formatted in exFAT. This should not be a problem, because I was able to transfer photos just fine on April 6th, five days ago.

Similarly, I also cannot import photos from an SD card via a USB-C adapter, even though it shows up in Photos with New Items to import. And lastly, I have also connected my Nikon 35 mm to the Mac via a USB cable; as with the others, it shows up in Photos with New Items to import, but whether trying to select one, or import all, neither function works.

Any suggestions?

Mac mini, macOS 14.4

Posted on Apr 10, 2024 9:39 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Old Toad

Level 10

216,428 points

Apr 11, 2024 9:13 AM in response to dhrmacmini

Have you tried different cables and different ports?

Try using Image Capture to import directly into your Photos library. If that doesn't work try downloading to a folder on the Desktop and from there into the library.

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Answer 2

dhrmacmini Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 11, 2024 5:54 PM in response to Old Toad

@Old_Toad, I did try different cables. Also, I just tried to drag/drop some jpgs from my desktop into the Photos library window. I got the following error:

"Cannot import item: This item cannot be added to your Photo library because it may be an unrecognizable format or the file may not contain valid data. Reason: There was an error attempting to free up disk space for import."

But that jpeg file was one that I dropped onto the desktop from Photos while holding the command key; so a copy. I made some edits with "Preview", now I cannot drag it back into Photos. The drive is a 1 TB solid state external drive with 345 GB available. So disk space should not be an issue. I'll run disk utilities on that external drive to see if there are problems.

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Answer 3

Old Toad

Level 10

216,428 points

Apr 12, 2024 9:25 AM in response to dhrmacmini

How is the external formatted?

Try creating an Automator app like this:

and drop a couple of problem image files on it and then see if it will import into the library.

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Can't import from iPhone 12 mini to Photos in Mac Mini

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