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Photos won't import pictures from iPhone without a system restart

What can I do to avoid having to do a complete restart of my iMac 2021 in order to import from my iPhone 12 mini, using Big Sur 11.5.2?

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.4

Posted on Aug 19, 2021 12:06 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 19, 2021 2:38 PM

OK, cool, thanks.


My method has always been to plug in my iPhone through USB, and Photos then says, "I see you have new pictures. Would you like to import them?" (metaphorically speaking)


Now I get a screen that says "Preparing to import photos from RB's iPhone" that never resolves into an actual import process. I can leave it like that for an hour and nothing happens.


This is a brand-new iMac with four of the newer-type USB ports, and I am using the supplied Apple Lightning connector cable. I have tried all four ports, just in case. I have also quit and restarted Photos, and restarted my iPhone, with no success.


The only thing that works is to restart the iMac. I tend to have lots of apps open and multiple tabs in my browser that are a pain to reopen when they involve signing back into sites.

6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 19, 2021 2:38 PM in response to TonyCollinet

OK, cool, thanks.


My method has always been to plug in my iPhone through USB, and Photos then says, "I see you have new pictures. Would you like to import them?" (metaphorically speaking)


Now I get a screen that says "Preparing to import photos from RB's iPhone" that never resolves into an actual import process. I can leave it like that for an hour and nothing happens.


This is a brand-new iMac with four of the newer-type USB ports, and I am using the supplied Apple Lightning connector cable. I have tried all four ports, just in case. I have also quit and restarted Photos, and restarted my iPhone, with no success.


The only thing that works is to restart the iMac. I tend to have lots of apps open and multiple tabs in my browser that are a pain to reopen when they involve signing back into sites.

Aug 22, 2021 9:28 AM in response to rbdancer

OK, I have stumbled upon an answer. While trying to debug a network connection, I opened Network Preferences. I'm using Big Sur 11.5.2.


There I saw something new: Besides the Wi-Fi network, I saw Ethernet (not connected), Thunderbolt Bridge (not connected) and iPhone USB2 and iPhone USB (both not connected).


I discovered that you can click on the iPhone USB or the USB 2, and uncheck the box that says "Disable unless needed." I did that for both iPhone connections, and when I plugged into the cable — Boom, Photos was able to see and import my pictures like normal.


This is a new "feature" of the Mac OS, so if you have similar difficulties with USB connections, here's a place to look.

Photos won't import pictures from iPhone without a system restart

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