iPhone Camera Funny Business

Since Adobe doesn't know how to name its apps, different people call it different things. I'll call it Lr Cloud, as opposed to Lr Classic. Of course, the photos are supposed to appear in Lr Cloud (as "smart previews") and in Lr Classic (as full-resolution raws). Among the many users whom I know, on both Mac and Windows, this synch process has always been iffy. It doesn't seem to me to be a local problem.

The Mac is a late 2021 16" MB Pro w. M1 Max chip, 64 GB of RAM. MacOS and all apps are up-to-date.

Free Lightroom version? There is no free version. Lr for mobile devices is included with paid Adobe subscriptions.

My iPhone is the camera that I use when I don't have one of my five or six Canon cameras on my person.

Strictly speaking, I do not synch photos at all. Adobe does that. On day one of a new iPhone I set Lr for iOS to automatically synch photos from the iPhone Photos app, and Adobe takes it from there via its software and servers. Sometimes. As noted, I consider the occasional failure to synch to be an Adobe problem, not a Mac or iOS or Windows or Android problem.

I do not use iCloud for iPhone photos.

What do these questions have to do with a DNG appearing as a JPG after Air Drop to a Mac, in which Adobe software plays no part? The Adobe issue is of secondary concern to me.

Pretty simple. Make a photo with the Apple camera app. Go to the photo in the Photos app. Air Drop to Mac.

Do you use any of this software? Air Drop is not an option from Mobile Lightroom. I again suggest that if you want to be helpful you should focus on the DNG/JPG issue, as the Lightroom Synch issue is of secondary importance to me. If a desired photo doesn't synch from the iPhone to Lr Classic I simply Air Drop it (raw, full-res) to the Mac and import it into Lr Classic.

My workflow is similar, but simpler. I have Mobile LR set to auto import images from Photos. Mobile LR syncs to Lightroom Classic on my iMac. If the sync pauses, I disable and re-enable sync. It also syncs photos to my iPad Pro 12.9”. My Raw files all sync with no format issues.

That is identical to my workflow.

Do you have cellular enabled for syncing?

Yes.

Do you have Prevent from Sleep during sync enabled?

Yes.

Disable HDR on import in Adobe import settings.

Yes.

I have discovered that the problem with DNG/JPG is that under Air Drop settings>Format my choice of Original (DNG) may reset itself to Automatic. Solution: fritter away my priceless time checking the setting each time I Air Drop.