Inconsistent photo count during USB sync between Mac and iPhone

Question

Michael_CH Author

Level 1

6 points

Inconsistent photo count during USB sync between Mac and iPhone

Dear community,

I spend hours with apple support... got me no where. Maybe (I hope) someone from this community could help me better.

I have an issue (which seems not uncommon based on my search), rapid description:

When I sync the Photos of my MAC to my iPhone - via USB cable (not iCloud) - I do not get all photo on my iPhone.
Previously this ALL WORKED (same HW and library) - I have >100k photo, 1T and approx 1k albums
When I sync a few albums (like 1-5) then it all works.
As soon as I add more albums, the photo count is lower on my iPhone (photos not transferred on the iPhone) than on the MAC.
When I remove all pictures from my iPhone and try again the transferred photo Album count is different (seems to be totally random from one time to another time).
It is not the cable, I used various cables.
It is not an album or picture problems as when I sync only one album then all is ok.
I did a check of my photo library (all seems good , it is an apple Photo option) and I did multiple restart (MAC & iPhone)
I also deleted the cash folder in Photo
I do not use iCloud
Latest OS on both machine MAC mini 2018 OS 15.5 and iPhone 13 mini OS 18.5

Any idea to help me?

Thank you !!!! :-)

Best regards !

Michael

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: USBsphoto synchronisation issue between MAC and iPhone, photo count not correct - HELP !!!!!!

[Edited by Moderator]

Mac mini, macOS 15.5

Posted on Jul 9, 2025 8:16 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Jul 12, 2025 11:45 AM in response to Michael_CH

If you haven't tried re-starting in Safe Mode, that's a good thing to check. This bypasses certain potentially disruptive processes, and it often helps. Safe Mode is different for different computers, so see this:

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

If that doesn't help, see what happens if you use Image Capture from your Applications folder. That won't get Albums, unfortunately, but it may catch the pictures that using the Finder misses.

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Answer 2

Michael_CH Author

Level 1

6 points

Jul 13, 2025 9:07 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Hi Richard, thanks, seems even worst in dafe mode. In my latest call with apple support they confirmed they have a bug.... really strange that apple has so many issue with a simple photo sync topic. Do you have the same issue?

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Answer 3

Jul 13, 2025 9:19 AM in response to Michael_CH

Michael_CH wrote: … Do you have the same issue?

I stopped doing cable transfers a few years ago. I found the cable stuff to be unreliable. It's not "syncing," even though that's the word Apple uses-- it's just a transfer. I prefer actual synchronization. iCloud is simple, automatic, and it works well.

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Answer 4

Michael_CH Author

Level 1

6 points

Jul 13, 2025 9:56 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

thx, well I moved to iCloud approx 1 year and it was such a disaster that I stopped. It simply did not work (picture moved within an album by themselves...was crazy, I could even show this to apple support). I have >100k photos and a lot of albums, I spend days with apple and needed to conclude tat their cloud stuff does not work for "serious photo usage" ....

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