Photos Time & Date changing when Imported

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Level 1

8 points

Photos Time & Date changing when Imported

Using am Iphone 14 Pro Max and M4 Macbook Air and the last 2 times I imported my photos from my Iphone over to Photos on my Macbook I have noticed photos being out of sequence that they have been shot in. after some inspection I found that my photos are perfect on my phone but on my Macbook is all messed up. some photos are set to 24H00 even if it was taken in the day and others are a couple of hours early or late. this really makes it all a mess.

Does anyone else have any similar issues?

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.5

Posted on Jul 14, 2025 02:57 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 14, 2025 10:35 PM in response to Frikie5000

The usual causes for this are time zone issues like a Wi-Fi broadcasting a wrong location, VPN, poor GPS signal or Airplane mode when the photo was shot, photos routed through social sites which strip date and location metadata (Facebook, WhatsApp).

The easiest way is to fix this is to adjust the datetime via the Photos date panel.

Or do some sleuthing and inspect the photos metadata with apps like exiftool and try to remember how and where the photos were shot to get to the root of the matter.

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Answer 2

Frikie5000 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 14, 2025 11:45 PM in response to Matti Haveri

I have checked all the usual causes like time zone & times on both devices.

Phone is always connected with GPS locations on. I dont play with settings but then in 20 pics some would be fine and others not.

Going to reload MacOs to see if it sorts it out. Went to an Istore yesterday but they also couldn’t identify why this is happening.

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Answer 3

Jul 15, 2025 12:24 AM in response to Frikie5000

Then this might need more sleuthing.

So check what should be the correct datetime and location and what does this command say about them for the offending image(s):

exiftool -a -G1 -s -n -fileOrder5 FileName -api QuickTimeUTC=1 -api RequestTags=FileCreateDate -Time:All -Location:All 2025-0703-1017-29.heic

The output for that is something like:

[MacOS]         FileCreateDate                  : 2025:07:03 10:17:29+03:00
[System]        FileModifyDate                  : 2025:07:03 10:17:29+03:00
[IFD0]          ModifyDate                      : 2025:07:03 10:17:29
[ExifIFD]       DateTimeOriginal                : 2025:07:03 10:17:29
[ExifIFD]       CreateDate                      : 2025:07:03 10:17:29
[ExifIFD]       OffsetTime                      : +03:00
[ExifIFD]       OffsetTimeOriginal              : +03:00
[ExifIFD]       OffsetTimeDigitized             : +03:00
[GPS]           GPSDateStamp                    : 2025:07:03
[GPS]           GPSLatitudeRef                  : N
[GPS]           GPSLatitude                     : 29.9792
[GPS]           GPSLongitudeRef                 : E
[GPS]           GPSLongitude                    : 31.1342

https://exiftool.org/

If you are new to Terminal, then try to do that on some less capable and clumsy online tools that give more info than you need for this task:

https://exif.tools

https://jimpl.com

https://exiftool.lucasgelfond.online/

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