Apple Photos tags unedited Portrait Mode images as "Edited"

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Level 1

12 points

Apple Photos tags unedited Portrait Mode images as "Edited"

Inside the Apple Photos app, Portrait Mode photos taken on the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro (and presumably any iPhone Portrait Mode photo) flag as having been Edited, however no edits have been made to these photos, as evidenced by the inability to Revert to Original or otherwise Reset Adjustments of any kind. I am currently noticing this issue only with Portrait Mode photos and not other image types.

This is problematic not just because it shows false information to the user, but it also makes it impossible to correctly filter images which have or have not been edited; one must manually check each Portrait Mode image, because all will show as having edits applied even when none have been.

This bug seems to have not been noticed by anyone else on Apple Forums or Reddit, given that I could not find any other threads discussing this. Please fix this bug (and allow for more streamlined Lightroom Classic type filtering, and add Smart Albums on iOS).

Specs:

Apple Photos Version 10.0 (760.6.150)
macOS Sequoia 15.5 (24F74)
MacBook Pro 16-inch, 2021, Apple M1 Max, 64 GB RAM
iPhone 12 Pro 512GB
iPhone 16 Pro 1TB
iOS 17 and 18 (Problem spans at least two years of photos from 2024 and 2025).
iCloud Photos via iCloud+ Apple One 2TB

Screenshots:

Example unedited Portrait Mode photo displaying "Edited" tag.

Same example unedited Portrait Mode photo showing "Edited" tag, open in the editor, clearly showing no edits made that can be Reverted to Original or Reset in any way.

On iOS, same example unedited Portrait Mode Photo also shows as "Edited" in filters.

On iOS, same example unedited Portrait Mode Photo shows no edits in editor to be Reverted or Reset, indicating again that no edits have been applied.

[Edited by Moderator]

MacBook Pro 16″

Posted on Jun 21, 2025 2:08 AM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

200,211 points

Jun 22, 2025 11:57 PM in response to jdavidbuerk

Could you please tell us, if you have any cphotographic styles applied automatically by the camera? (Use latest generation Photographic Styles - Apple Support (EG))

All portrait photos I have taken with a photographic style applied are showing as "Edited" in Photos for Mac. But the "Revert to Original" button is missing. The Camera Styles applied on my iPhone 15 Pro Max are burned in and cannot be reverted. The Info on my iPhone is showing that a style has been applied, but on my Mac I am only seeing the "Edited" badge and can do nothing about removing the photographic style, if I do not like the effect.

The only thing I can do is exporting the unmodified original and remove the .aae file. And reimport the original without the .aae file describing the style. It will look slightly different.

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Answer 2

jdavidbuerk Author

Level 1

12 points

Jun 22, 2025 6:39 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

I'm afraid I don't know much about this "Portrait Mode" stuff

Right.

You've described normal function of setting the aspect ratio in the native camera app; you have evidently set yours to 16:9, but this does not mean the native aspect ratio of Portrait Mode images is 16:9, nor does it mean any of my photos were shot in a non-native aspect ratio - you will clearly see in my original post all images were shot in native 4:3.

Screenshot of Portrait Mode active with native 4:3 Aspect Ratio selected.

Same unedited photo taken in Portrait Mode in native 4:3 Aspect Ratio showing as "Edited" in Apple Photos.

While you'd be correct that applying an in-camera aspect ratio setting would cause the Edited tag to flag perpetually, if you pay attention to my original post, you'd notice that all the images displayed are all in 4:3 aspect ratio, and are uncropped, hence the problem. Furthermore, you should also know that the "Revert to Original" button resets cropping to as-shot state, which as already stated is native 4:3.

Apple Photos Crop viewer showing that no crop or edit has been applied to image still displaying "Edited" tag.

This is not a case of metadata altering edited status either, because altering Title / Caption / Keyword / Favorite metadata does not trigger the Edited tag.

This is further demonstrated by having other unedited Portrait Mode images in the library that do NOT have the edited tag, while many other unedited Portrait Mode images do.

Unedited Portrait Mode Image without "Edited" tag.

Unedited Portrait Mode Image with "Edited" tag.

So no, I do not think "that the Edit[ed] tag is appropriate;" not one bit. I think this isn't a "suggestion" that should be made, I think this is a clear software problem that needs to be addressed.

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Answer 3

Jun 22, 2025 7:23 AM in response to jdavidbuerk

I'm afraid I don't know much about this "Portrait Mode" stuff, but a picture that's in Portrait Mode is, in fact, edited, isn't it?

I just tried taking a picture using Portrait Mode, and the result was a 16:9 vertical. But the native aspect ratio is 4:3, so it has been cropped. In fact, if you go into Edit Mode>Crop, you can return the picture to "Original" which is 4:3. So, rather than "Revert," it's "Crop>Original."

So it seems that the Edit tag is appropriate, don't you think?

If you think that Apple should not agree, then you can leave suggestions here:

Feedback - Photos - Apple

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Answer 4

Jun 23, 2025 6:34 AM in response to jdavidbuerk

jdavidbuerk wrote:

I'm afraid I don't know much about this "Portrait Mode" stuff

Right.

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Apple Photos tags unedited Portrait Mode images as "Edited"

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