Photos app on iPhone not syncing in iOS 11

Upgraded to iOS 11.0.3 and same issues persist. After syncing my iPhone 6 with iTunes from my MacBook Air using Photos as my image store and using folders and albums to file- all New Slbums appear empty on my iPhone. Sync gets to 5 of 5 preparing images to transfer and then blanks out and finishes (making the albums but not transferring the images)

This has been the case since iOS 11 and I have spent far too much time trying to re-sync. And fathom out what is going on and also of course I have been carefully reading this block of questions and answers as I will keep doing until the problem is sorted. Please Apple do something!!! Very frustrated long term Apple user since 1988!!

IOS 11 photo sync bug fixed by IOS 11.0.3.

Earlier reported problem (in posts dd. 1 Oct and 5 Oct) where IOS 11 would not cable synchronise pictures between Photos on an iMac (running MacOS 10.12.6) and IOS devices running IOS 11 has been solved for me by IOS 11.0.3. Both iPhone 6S and iPad Air2 now in sync.

However, there is still some patience needed. I had to restart iTunes and reboot the IOS devices to get the photo sync to work; first attempt after installation didn’t work, but a reboot seems to have bump started the sync process. The iPad needed to sync four times to import all the photos; the iPhone worked fine first time after the reboot.

It’s a shame that Apple seems to have adopted the Microsoft model of rushing out software and relying on its customers to find the problems. A more robust QA process would be appreciated, even if this delayed deployment of the latest software toys. Thanks anyway for listening and for fixing it (for me at least). I hope IOS 11.1 solves this for all the other users affected.

dlaynmore's description also matches my current experience with iPad Air2.

I have 30+ folders and about 6000 photos that needs to be sync'd up. Syncing photos with iOS 11, 11.0.1 was a big mess, and an exercise in futility. I held off syncing in 11.0.2 because various posts suggested this wasn't fixed.

I gave it a try in 11.0.3. It took 3 syncs and 2 reboots for me to transfer about 30 photos and get everything sync'd up. First time it says transferring 885, second time 517, third time about 250, and then every folder was in sync -- but boy, this does NOT need to be sooooooo frustrating, Apple. Keep squashing this bug until it works like before iOS 11 !!!

As mentioned in earlier posts, I am a serious amateur photographer with over 16,000 digital images in multiple folders that I have synced with my iOS devices (iPads and iPhones) for many years using iTunes. I depend on my iPad Mini 3 for presenting the photos. I also have tried the 11.0.3 update and it makes no difference whatsoever. I have even tried doing a few folders at a time -- which would take many hours of syncing and would be very inconvenient - but that does not work either. I have manages to get around 8000 images in multiple folders onto the iPad, but many folders remain partially synced and many folders are empty. I continue to get an error message "Sync cancelled because of device error".

I am surprised that there has been no Apple tech support comments on this exchange, as many professional photographers and serious amateurs rely on apple products. Sadly, it appears that Apple is now focusing on creating luxury consumer goods and no longer technologically advanced devices.

I have already replaced my iPhone 6s with a new Galaxy Note with a 256gb SD card, and moving pictures and music files to the card is simplicity itself. Plus, I still have a fingerprint reader, iris reader, and a headphone jack, thank you very much, in addition to an amazing camera and display.

I can use my Surface Book laptop in tablet mode as an alternative presentation device, which relegates my MacBook Pro to the kitchen as an extra laptop for reading the paper in the morning online.

And my iPad mini joins our apple TV devices as platforms to view apple content only and nothing else. I have no more time to waste trying to sync my photos.

So much for changing the world, Mr. Cook.

I have a similar problem, with over 19000 photos the sync from my MacBook pro to iPad running 11.0.3 keeps dropping out with error message saying internal error. you have to keep restarting the sync, after about 20 restarts I have still only managed to transfer about 1/2 the photos!

Try turning off ‘Background App Refresh’ in iOS settings then reboot the device and turn Background App Refresh back on then reboot one last time. Even though the Photos app is not specifically in the list of apps to tweak it has work for a few people I know.

Oh my, the lengths people are willing to go through to get the sync to work. I might give this a try, I don't know how many people want to do it this way for a long time. We need Apple to step up and fix this once and for all.. or else my next, and 4th tablet won't be from Apple!

I'm having the same issue getting iTunes 12.7 to USB sync photos with my iPad Air II. I can add an additional related problem. I downloaded the MyPics and PhotoVault apps to try and circumvent the whole Photos sync process. Using the Files protocol I tried to transfer a file of photos. Both apps crashed during the process. MyPics finally got some of the images but PhotoVault didn't. Like others, I'm a photographer and depend on my iPad to display my images. Not happy!

I got the same problem, 20000+ plus photo can’t sync to my iPhone 8 and the sub folder are empty, but is was worked in my iPhone 7, iPad min 2 and MacBook Pro. I have been to Apple Store 2 times and tried to fix it. First time, the staff told me to re-set the iPhone, I have reset, however, less photo was sync to my iPhone, just few thousands of photo was sync, the staff told me that this is a rare case, just few people have this problem. After a week, I went to Apple Store again, staff helped me to reset and restore, they told me I should updated the latest version through computer and the power should be plugged to your iPhone, I have reset again and restore everything, however, this time even less photo sync to my phone, just 16xx, the staff told me better not to use iCloud to sync large amount of photos but this is the functions and selling point for Apple to backup everything to iCloud, I even change from 50gb plan to 200gb and paid for HK$23 per month. It spent 3 hours in Apple store and I have something to do then I must leave, when I back home and plug my iPhone to power supply, no more photos was sync to my iPhone. Yesterday, I have upgraded to IOS 11.03, reset everything again and plug in my power supply with good WiFi network and spend 10hours, however, this time just 14xx photos sync to my iPhone. It is quite disappointing and frustrating for this function, money was spent but could not get what I have expected.

Actually, my wife also had 1xxxx + photos and was changed from iPhone 6s to iPhone 8 plus but all her photos can sync to her iPhone 8. I think it is a bug for someone who has iPhone with IOS11 and MacBook.

Have been syncing like crazy! iOS 11.0.3 with iPhone 6 using iTunes and usb. After trying everything other than total reset of my iPhone I now have 57,000 odd photos with no album filing as is in Photos App!!

Apple please do something to fix the sync issues in Photos!! I am a professional and need my Photos at hand and filed in a way that I can reference quickly. I spent a lot of time making special albums based on country, subject matter etc - all gone on my iPhone!!! I repeat - some sort of comment from Apple would be much appreciated! Thanks

As I mentioned above, I started migrating my photographs from Apple to a PC/Android ecosystem last summer when this problem first arose with my iPhone 6s and iPad Mini 3. This was a an expensive proposition as it involved new equipment, but at least with Adobe Creative Cloud I didn't need to purchase new software (Lightroom, Photoshop, etc.). I reset my old 6s and my iPad Mini 3 several times and reinstalled all the photos as well as all the apps. However, with the latest updates to iOS and iTunes, this no longer works, and resetting devices is not a legitimate option in any event. I am easily able to move pictures, now domiciled on a new Surface Book (1TB storage, with enhanced graphics base and touch screen), onto a new Note 8 with a 256GB micro sd card for photos. The iPad is a stone, usable only for viewing Apple content, which thankfully are only movies -- I never purchased music from iTunes for fear of compatibility issues. And my old MacBook Pro is relegated to the kitchen to look at emails and check websites (with Chrome, I might add). I have no more time to spend fooling around trying to work within the Apple ecosystem, when Apple is clearly ignoring our small but technologically demanding group of professional and amateur photographers in favor of making luxury consumer goods. It is obvious that Apple is no longer innovating.

The following worked for me on my iPhone 6 and iPad mini 4 (It was mentioned in a previous post as a link to another discussion): I also had this problem. Tried all types of resets and restores without any luck. What worked for me in the end was to use iTunes to sync a minimal number of photos which automatically turned off iCloud Photo Library on the iPad. After that finished on the iPad I turned on iCloud Photo Library and agreed to delete the photos I'd just synced and then it worked.

The problem with this approach is that many of us have far too many pictures to transfer than can be handled by iCloud storage, which also compresses the pictures. Also, I have no need for yet another backup plan. I suppose I cluld put all my pics into Dropbox (where I have 1TB of storage), and then open them on the iPad and other iOS devices. But why go through all this hassle? I see no benefits from staying in the outdated Apple ecosystem any longer, when it seems pretty clear that they are no longer interested in customers like me (who had had an all-apple family until now).

And, for what it is worth, I did exactly as you suggested to no avail, mindful that I do not use iCloud to upload pictures from my Mac. I am done with this until we hear from Apple that there is a fix.

I did report this to Apple Care and apparently, my case (unable to transfer images from Mac to iPhone using iTunes, Apple USB-Lightning cable - i.e., despite using everything hardware and software from Apple) is now with the "engineering team". In this past this has never led to anything - but I'm happy to be surprised!