Apple Photos People/face recognition problem – macOS Golden Gate 27.0.1
I have a long-standing problem with People in Apple Photos on my MacBook Pro, running macOS Golden Gate 27.0.1 (latest available). My library is local; I do not use iCloud Photos. The problem predates this update, and repairing my original library once did not fix it.
Symptoms
Photos detects faces but frequently fails to group photos of the same person. Photos I have manually named remain separate from other obvious photos of that person, which stay “Unnamed”. “Review More Photos” says there are no more photos despite clear examples existing.
For example, I named Ryan in one photo, but he remained unnamed in another photo containing both of us. His People entry showed only two photos.
Test with a new library
I created a separate Photos library and imported a small selection of photos. The problem reproduced:
- People initially showed “No people and pets available”, then “Finding People”. This later reverted to “People”, and “Finding People” reappeared.
- Naming myself did not automatically associate other detected photos of me. After manually naming another face, all eight photos of me appeared together.
- I named James in two photos, but other detected photos of him remained unnamed. Manually merging the entries worked and brought his photos together.
- A newly imported photo initially had no face thumbnails in Info. “Add Faces” drew circles around faces but did not create thumbnails. Manually naming myself created my thumbnail and added the photo to my collection, but the other circled faces remained without thumbnails.
Manual naming and merging therefore work, but automatic face registration/grouping is inconsistent, even in a fresh library.
Background tests
I left the Mac plugged in overnight, enabled “Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off”, and quit Photos completely. The next day I left Photos open and minimised for approximately six hours. I also waited several hours in the test library. No improvement.
photoanalysisd and mediaanalysisd were present but showed 0% CPU at the time checked.
Read-only Terminal findings
I inspected the original Photos database without modifying it:
- SELECT COUNT(*) FROM ZPERSON; → 4,446 person records; only 26 named.
- ZDETECTEDFACE: 5,705 total faces, 4,327 linked to a person, 1,378 unlinked.
- SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT ZPERSONFORFACE) FROM ZDETECTEDFACE WHERE ZPERSONFORFACE IS NOT NULL; → 3,223.
- SELECT COUNT(*) FROM ZDETECTEDFACEPRINT; → 5,705.
Tables included ZDETECTEDFACE, ZDETECTEDFACEGROUP and ZDETECTEDFACEPRINT. These counts do not prove corruption but may help explain the fragmented associations.
Logs
I examined photoanalysisd logs over 30 minutes and two hours, including face/person/cluster/analysis/task/queue terms. Most activity consisted of quick housekeeping and asset tasks, with no obvious sustained face analysis. One entry was: The meNode.inferredPersonNode is not of type PGGraphPersonNode. I don’t know whether it is related.
Request
Could this be investigated as a possible Photos face-analysis, person-grouping or indexing issue? The problem reproduces in a new local library, and manual naming/merging works while automatic grouping does not. I would appreciate escalation to someone familiar with Photos internals and advice on a supported fix that will not risk my original library. I have not deleted database files or reset People data and can provide further diagnostics if needed.