I am not able to transfer a large number of photos from my iPhone to my Mac Studio without hanging.

I have an iPhone 14 pro running iOS 18.6 and am trying to transfer a couple hundred photos to my Mac Studio running Sequoia 15.6. I have been working on using AirDrop to accomplish this for a while now and am making very slow progress. Everything seems to work OK at first. After I get a number of photos copied something always hangs. Sometimes I get a "waiting" and then a failure. Sometimes, the Studio stops appearing in the list of AirDrop devices. It seems I need to reboot the systems to get it to work again. Any hints as to how I can get this to work long enough to transfer the photos?



Mac Studio, macOS 15.6

Posted on Aug 15, 2025 01:39 PM

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1 reply

Aug 16, 2025 01:29 AM in response to Tom Bilbro

Re: I am not able to transfer a large number of photos from my iPhone to my Mac Studio without hanging


Seems AirDrop is mostly intended for just a quick transfer of a few large files between devices. although perseverence with multiple moderately sized batches (50- 500) of photos has been accomplished by some pateint users. Also, seems some have experinced difficulty when attempting to AirDrop files over10Gb.


If you don't use iCloud to simply sync. photos, and

If you have an appropriate cable: On Mac, using "Photos" you can Import large numbers of photos from iPhone

or

_______________ Mac also has "Image Capture" to import Photos from devices with a camera.

For Import to Mac:

See how to: Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC - Apple Support

Eg: says:

  1. Connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac with a USB cable.
  2. If you see a prompt to allow your accessory to connect to your computer, click Allow.
  3. Open the Photos app on your computer.
  4. The Photos app shows an Import screen with all the photos and videos that are on your connected device. If the Import screen doesn't automatically appear, click the device's name in the Photos sidebar.
  5. If asked, unlock your iPhone or iPad using your passcode. If a prompt appears on your iPhone or iPad asking you to Trust This Computer, tap Trust to continue.
  6. Choose where you want to import your photos. Next to Album, you can choose an existing album or create a new one.
  7. Select the photos you want to import and click Import Selected, or click Import All New Photos.
  8. Wait for the process to finish, then disconnect your device from your Mac.

____________________________________________________________________________

Else: To import your photos directly from iPhone to a folder on Mac with Image Capture:

See how to: Transfer images in Image Capture on Mac - Apple Support

I am not able to transfer a large number of photos from my iPhone to my Mac Studio without hanging.

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