Live Photos from iPhone 7 in HEIF format not playing in High Sierra Photos app

Which model of Mac ar you using?

Even with High Sierra installed, only the newer Mac Models support the newHEIF/HEVC formats well.

See this link: Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices - Apple Support

Support for HEIF and HEVC is built into iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra, letting you work with this media in a variety of apps, including Photos and QuickTime Player.

On some older devices, support for HEVC is also affected by the resolution and frame rate (fps) of the video:

• iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and iPad Air 2 work with HEVC video that was captured at no greater than 1080p/240 fps.
• iPhone 5s, iPad Air, and iPad mini (Retina models) work with HEVC video that was captured at no greater than 1080p/60 fps or 720p/240 fps.
• Mac models from mid 2015 or earlier work with HEVC video that was captured at no greater than 1080p/240 fps.

Either the document is incomplete and needs updated to indicate HEIF Live Photos don't work on older Macs or it is a bug that needs fixed in Photos.app. Personally I am hoping for a bug since I would like to use the new image format on my older iMac.

It does not mention at all, how Live Photos will be encoded , when we do not use "most compatible". But as Live Photos are a pair of a video and a still frame, the question remains, how the video component of a Live Photo will be encoded (Frame rate, pixel size).

Another problem, since the upgrade to High Sierra - video components will not be found, if the Photos Library is on a drive, that has a case-sensitive file system format.

Hello,

I am having the exact same issue as described by Manco. The support document referenced makes no mention of HEIF not working on older Macs. It specifically say it does work on High Sierra Macs which include older Macs. It only makes mention of the limitations of HEVC resolutions on older Macs. (1080p/240 support still ain't bad.) HEVC(video) is not HEIF(image). The documentation makes no mention of any limitations on older Macs for HEIF image format.

Either the document is incomplete and needs updated to indicate HEIF Live Photos don't work on older Macs or it is a bug that needs fixed in Photos.app. Personally I am hoping for a bug since I would like to use the new image format on my older iMac.

You're welcome, Manco.