Missing photos when importing from iPhone to Mac Photos app

Importing all photos from iPhone 16 Pro (iOS 27.0.1) to Macbook Air M2, 2022 (Tahoe 26.6.2) results in total count discrepancy.

I do not use iCloud, but would like to have a backup of my photos stored locally.

Plugging my iPhone into my Macbook and using the Photos app to import all photos only imports 13,993 photos/videos, despite my phone showing a total of 14,088. Both devices have "Shared with You" turned off, so neither is counting photos from iMessages.

Where is this discrepancy coming from? I do not want to be missing photos from my backup, and I do not want to use iCloud. Any help will be appreciated.

Posted on Oct 19, 2026 12:24 PM

1 reply

Richard.Taylor

Level 7 (25,466 points)

Oct 20, 2026 7:30 AM in response to Ayyds

Can you actually see which pictures are missing? Different devices count Live Photos and bursts differently-- is a Live Photo a single thing or is it a still and a movie? That distinction seems to be handled differently. Also, some pictures that were transferred from a computer to a phone don't transfer back, because they are treated as temporary items.

I use iCloud to synchronize my phone, iPad, and Mac, and they all four agree.

I think that you have to find some of those different pictures to decide what's going on. In other discussions, people couldn't actually find any differences.