Photos keeps asking me to import the same photos from iPhone

Question

Photos keeps asking me to import the same photos from iPhone

I'm having a problem where the Photos application keeps asking me to import old items as if they are new.

Here are the steps I'm taking:

When I connect my iPhone 6 to my MacBook Pro, the Photos application launches and shows that I have 6 new items to import (3 photos and 3 videos).
These photos and videos are already in my iCloud library and available in Photos on my MacBook.
I go ahead and click "Import All New Items" in hopes that it will stop prompting me.
The photos and videos are imported without error and now duplicated in Photos on my MacBook.
If I then unplug and reconnect my iPhone, it will now show that I have 9 items to import! The original 3 photos now appear twice plus the original 3 videos.

How can I get Photos to stop asking me to import these same photos and videos over again?

These are the relevant settings on my iPhone:

iCloud Photo Library (ON)
Optimize iPhone Storage (Checked)
Upload to My Photo Stream (ON)
iCloud Photo Sharing (ON)

These are the settings in Photos:

Importing: Copy items to the Photos library (Checked)
iCloud Photo Library (Checked)
Download Originals to this Mac (Selected)
My Photo Stream (Checked)
iCloud Photo Sharing (Checked)

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014), OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Jul 9, 2015 6:25 AM

Reply

Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

200,705 points

Jul 9, 2015 6:35 AM in response to dailyjetplane

The import panel will show the photos that have been downloaded from iCloud to your iPhone as new photos. The optimized versions differ from the photos in your library. Just don't import from the iPhone, if you are using iCloud Photo Library on your mac and your iPhone. All photos will already be on your Mac transferred by iCloud. What the Import panel is showing you is confusing and not useful.

Send feedback to Apple that this needs fixing. Apple - Photos - Feedback

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

200,705 points

Jul 9, 2015 6:38 AM in response to LarryHN

What is the purpose of connecting the phone to the Mac?

Sometimes we need to import using USB, if we are away from the network for a long time, and want to transfer photos from the iPhone to the Mac.

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Answer 3

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

Jul 9, 2015 6:43 AM in response to dailyjetplane

What is the purpose of connecting the phone to the Mac? One thing you can do is while it is connected and Photos is running uncheck the box near the top left to open iPhoto when this device is connected

LN

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Answer 4

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

Jul 9, 2015 6:45 AM in response to léonie

I have 6 new items to import (3 photos and 3 videos).

Sometimes we need to import using USB, if we are away from the network for a long time, and want to transfer photos from the iPhone to the Mac.

???

LN

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Answer 5

léonie

Level 10

200,705 points

Jul 9, 2015 6:58 AM in response to LarryHN

???

😉 That was just to name a reason why we may need to mix importing by USB with importing from iCloud Photo Library. It is inconvenient, that we cannot tell from the information in the Import panel which photos have already been imported from iCloud and which are really new and have not yet been imported. Stopping Photos from launching automatically will not help to identify the really new photos. It will only help if we connect the iPhone to USB for other reasons, to sync with iTunes.

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Answer 6

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

Jul 9, 2015 7:19 AM in response to léonie

I agree on principle - but for this case that does not seem to be the case

with no information I see either not connecting via USB or telling Photos not to one for the phone is a solution

Maybe not but my best Guess given what info is available

LN

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Answer 7

léonie

Level 10

200,705 points

Dec 30, 2015 2:54 AM in response to wealthychef

Maybe it's because iCloud photos and USB syncing are not supposed to be used together? Very frustrating.

I only use USB syncing when I am traveling and WI-Fi is not available. And then I ignore any older photos that are shown as new in the Import panel. After all, I know there cannot or should not be older photos needing importing, since iCloud Photo Library is keeping the libraries in sync.

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Answer 8

clawsda

Level 1

4 points

Jul 16, 2016 8:18 AM in response to dailyjetplane

I have this problem and find it extremely annoying as a new member to the "iCloud" family. Why don't they just add a "show duplicates" button so you can easily delete the multiple copies?? Problem "solved" sort of.

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