User profile for user: HPD23
HPD23 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Photo Import Issue - iPhone to MacBook Air. Phone disconnects from Photos

I have a MacBook Air 15" purchased towards the end of last year.

I am trying to upload my photos to my new Mac.

I have 5gb of free storage on iCloud, this is currently full.


When I connect my iPhone 11 Pro, it will show my all my images in Photos, however when I go and click on "Import all New items" it will think for a second and then my phone will disconnect from Photos (it remains charging, so I don't believe it is disconnecting from the laptop completely).


I was able to upload 400 odd photos/videos the first time earlier tonight, but since then only one at a time (but it doesn't work every time either)


I have approx. 1k of photos I would like to upload onto my Mac so doing one at a time is not feasible.


I have researched other questions which have the same issue from 2020 and 2023 and that hasn't fixed my issue. Hoping there is a more updated answer/fix


Any help would be greatly appreciated :)



MacBook Air 15″, macOS 14.5

Posted on Jan 6, 2025 2:46 AM

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User profile for user: Richard.Taylor
Richard.Taylor
User level: Level 6
18,241 points

Posted on Jan 7, 2025 9:33 AM

Is iCloud still turned on for Photos on your Phone? Since your iCloud is full, it can't do you much good to stay connected. You should turn off iCloud on your phone and on your Mac until you fix it to be used again. iCloud is, by far, the easiest and most trustworthy way to synchronize pictures between a Mac and a phone, so, personally, I think it's worth $3/month for 200 GB.


You say, "When I connect my iPhone 11 Pro;" do you mean you connect with a cable? Using a cable to transfer pictures is incompatible with using iCloud. You need to decide for the future if you ever want to use iCloud. Especially if you choose to go back to iCloud, pictures your transfer with a cable may cause trouble later.


If you're sure you want to transfer using a cable, try using the Apple app Image Capture from your Applications folder to this. You can tell it to transfer the pictures to a folder in Finder, or to send them straight to Photos.


Let us know how it goes…



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User profile for user: Richard.Taylor
Richard.Taylor
User level: Level 6
18,241 points

Jan 7, 2025 9:33 AM in response to HPD23

Is iCloud still turned on for Photos on your Phone? Since your iCloud is full, it can't do you much good to stay connected. You should turn off iCloud on your phone and on your Mac until you fix it to be used again. iCloud is, by far, the easiest and most trustworthy way to synchronize pictures between a Mac and a phone, so, personally, I think it's worth $3/month for 200 GB.


You say, "When I connect my iPhone 11 Pro;" do you mean you connect with a cable? Using a cable to transfer pictures is incompatible with using iCloud. You need to decide for the future if you ever want to use iCloud. Especially if you choose to go back to iCloud, pictures your transfer with a cable may cause trouble later.


If you're sure you want to transfer using a cable, try using the Apple app Image Capture from your Applications folder to this. You can tell it to transfer the pictures to a folder in Finder, or to send them straight to Photos.


Let us know how it goes…



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Photo Import Issue - iPhone to MacBook Air. Phone disconnects from Photos

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