cannot import photos from iPhone Photos to Photos app on mac Studio M2 OS Sequoia

Question

cannot import photos from iPhone Photos to Photos app on mac Studio M2 OS Sequoia

Just returned from a trip with 6000 photos. Plugged into my Mac Studio M2 Sequoia (both phone and computer on latest update), opened Photos (on a Mac OS Extended format RAID), it identifies new photos on my phone, I selected import new photos, and 1300 images were imported no problem. It stopped importing, and I have encountered that before, finding it struggles with amounts of ore than 1000 images, and selected the next 1000 images and clicked import selected. It would proceed with the download display, however nothing downloaded, with progress stuck at "downloading 0 of [number selected] images"... even waiting an hour.

I have tried different cables, different ports, different quantities (even one), making sure to try selecting without selecting the same or first image (in case corrupted), created a Photos library on a APFS SSD, exactly the same behaviour.

So I am stuck. I have looked for others with this issue, the most recent is two years old on older OS. Any suggestions? Much appreciated.

The phone btw is iPhone 12 Pro. It is very full. Would that make a difference? (I was anticipating off loading data AFTER downloading images). Thanks!

Mac Studio, macOS 15.5

Posted on Jul 24, 2025 11:54 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

marten berkman Author

Level 1

93 points

Jul 28, 2025 07:30 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

H there, thanks for your suggestions and questions!

I did not get around to try your suggestions, having resolved it:

What resolved the issue, was selecting about 1000-1500 files at a time, starting at the most recent (versus the oldest)... I easily transferred to the Photos library, until the last few hundred. Then there were issues, where I needed to transfer fewer and fewer files (from 70, down to less than five, before the "0 of [number of files selected]" stuck status arose.

No real logic to it, except the oldest files seemed to have an issue, though all eventually downloaded, albeit in smaller quantities at a time.

Well, there is one workaround anyways, without really knowing what caused the problem. The fact the phone was so full may have challenged its functionality...

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Answer 2

Jul 29, 2025 07:58 AM in response to marten berkman

marten berkman wrote:… The fact the phone was so full may have challenged its functionality...

When storage gets to be less than 10% free, lots of crazy things happen. The OS depends on having room to turn around. Even with 120 GB free on a 1TB MacAir drive, I had weird things going on, and they disappeared when I cleared out to 170 GB available. I didn't believe it when the Apple guy told me the problem might be lock of storage. He was right.

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Answer 3

Jul 28, 2025 08:42 AM in response to marten berkman

It does sound a bit like a corrupted file. Have you tried using the app Image Capture in the Applications folder to import picture from the phone? You might try using it to transfer pictures to Finder folders, and then use Photos to import from those.

You tried another Library on a directly wire connected APFS drive, is that right? What it a new empty Library created on that drive?

It could be your User account. I'd create another User and see if that works.

You should re-start in Safe Mode. 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

Let us know what you find…

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Answer 4

Jul 29, 2025 08:40 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

😄🙏🏻

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