iPhone 17 Pro Max can no longer airdrop or email photos, please help!

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iPhone 17 Pro Max can no longer airdrop or email photos, please help!

I am using an iPhone 17 Pro Max with iOS version 26.1. My camera format setting is on “Most Compatible”. I cannot Airdrop or email images. When I try, the file will not open and I get the error message “The file “IMG_2065.jpg” could not be opened. It may be damaged or use a file format that Preview doesn’t recognize.”

I have successfully airdropped and emailed images from this phone for months. This glitch just started happening this week. I have restarted both my iPhone and my iMac.

My iMac is a 2024 Apple M4 running Sequoia 15.3.1.

If I take a screenshot of a photo and airdrop or mail that, it will open on the iMac.

Please help! So frustrating!

iPhone 17 Pro Max, iOS 26

Posted on Jan 9, 2026 9:36 AM

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Answer 1

jeepgrrrl Author

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Jan 9, 2026 10:14 AM in response to Mac Jim ID

Thank you. I should have known to check software update but because I had selected Automatic Updates on all my devices, I assumed the software would be up to date. Obviously it is not, I will do that now!

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Answer 2

Jan 9, 2026 9:57 AM in response to jeepgrrrl

The first thing I would do is update your software on both devices as no one is using that combination any longer to test if it is a software related bug.

The iPhone should be on iOS 26.2
The latest version of Sequoia on a Mac is 15.7.3, although I do not know if you have that option any longer on a M4 Mac without updating to iOS 26.

I have seen reports of others here who had seen that message on this support site and they were all resolved with a software update. That does not explain why you just started seeing it this last week though as both versions of the OS on your devices have not changed for quite a while.

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iPhone 17 Pro Max can no longer airdrop or email photos, please help!

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