Photos App on iMac Doesn't See Photos For Import on iPhone since iOS 26

Question

Photos App on iMac Doesn't See Photos For Import on iPhone since iOS 26

iPhone 16 freshly upgraded to iOS 26, using Photos 8.0 (560.0.110) on 2019 iMac running 13.6.6 "Ventura". Not using iCloud in any way: this is a direct sync to Photos on iMac via USB cable.

I plug in my iPhone, and after the OS recognizes it, Photos says "No Photos" when in fact there are lots. Similar behavior using Image Capture: the iPhone is recognized but there are no photos listed for import.

When I Google this problem, there are LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of people throughout the years reporting the same problem. Very few posts yield a fix, and for the few that do it's never the same fix twice, and none of the scenarios apply to my specific use case.

I've rebooted the iMac and iPhone. I've tried other USB sync cables. I've tried booting to Safe Mode. Nothing has any impact on the problem. Any and all help appreciated.

iPhone 16, iOS 26

Posted on Sep 28, 2025 2:13 PM

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Answer 1

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original_jeff Author

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39 points

Sep 28, 2025 2:44 PM in response to original_jeff

Some additional information...

I am able to reproduce this behavior using my wife's 2023 Mac Mini and her iPhone (same macOS, iOS, and Photos versions). This would seem to suggest it's yet another in a long list of bugs in Photos.

I may have found a quasi work-around. What seems to work for both of us is the following procedure. Start with iPhone unplugged and Photos not running.

1. Plug in iPhone.

2. Wait for macOS to recognize it (it appears in the sidebar of a Finder window)

3. Launch Photos

If you launch Photos first and then plug in the iPhone, it almost always says "No Photos". Also: most of the time, the first time through the procedure it will only cause about 50% of the new photos to be seen. If not all of your new photos are recognized, follow these additional steps.

4. Quit Photos

5. Eject iPhone from sidebar of Finder window

6. Unplug iPhone

7. Wait 3-5 seconds

8. Repeat steps 1-3 above

I've found on four separate occasions now that going through the procedure twice will cause all photos to eventually be recognized. Interestingly, the next time through (i.e., the third time) the procedure will return either "No Photos", or only a subnet of new photos. It seems that only after an even number of times through the procedure will you see all the new photos to sync.

If anyone has a better workaround--or better still, a FIX--please do share.

[Edited by Moderator]

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Answer 2

Sep 28, 2025 6:56 PM in response to original_jeff

Oh, how fabulous! An Apple Moderator swoops in to edit out a sentence that contains a word that rhymes with "claptastic", as in, "This is a spectacularly claptastic workaround," but can't actually be bothered to post a helpful technical suggestion to the root problem.

Great to know Apple is moderating content to remove words that may offend the community, but can't be bothered to actually post anything that is technically helpful! W00t!

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Answer 3

Oct 5, 2025 6:19 PM in response to original_jeff

Just a bump... seriously nobody has anything to contribute here? Any word on how 26.0.1 impacts this?

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