Problems with location info on Mac mini photos

Question

Problems with location info on Mac mini photos

I have been using Photos library for a number of years. My 40,000 or so photos are on iCloud and also stored on my iMac 27 inch (late 2015 and also on my iPad and iPhone. Most of the photos were taken on iPhone (with geo-tags added automatically) ; many of other photos (on various cameras and digital cameras over time) were not geo-tagged at source (but this info I added manually into the metadata in many cases via Photos). I have never has problems with location info and could search by it on any of these platforms.

I purchased a Mac mini M4 a couple of weeks ago to replace my aging iMac. A great machine, however I have been running into problems with location info on my pictures on the Photos app on my new Mac mini. Specifically even though the metadata info shows the map and re pin which identifies the location, the text in the info pop up says “Looking up location info..” But this never gets resolved. Meantime on any other platform (including my old iMac which I have not retired yet) the location text information is there. What makes this strange is that n the Mac mini for some pictures it has the map with the “Looking up location info..” But with some photos it DOES have the location identified. For example, for a sequence of 6 photos taken within a few minutes of each other (at same location), 2 DO have location info identified in the text whereas 4 will have “Looking for location info..”. I have same issue with photos I had previously manually tagged (all will have the map and pin info but some will have “Looking up…” even though same location). In all cases when I check on any of the other platforms this problem does not exist. If I use the search field to search by location “London” it shows 75 pictures whereas if I use the Map it shows there are 1,696 pictures.

I should add that after the first inconsistencies, I backed up the library on my Mac mini and redownloaded the whole library from scratch from iCloud. This did not fix the problem. (I previously tried running repair library).

My hypothesis is this is something in the software on my new Mac mini. Currently running MacOS Sequoia 15.1, Photos 10.0 (711.0.180). My old iMac is still on Monterey 12.7.6 and Photos 7.0. Both machines are on same home network going through same router etc (in case any questions on access to apple server to resolve location info). And in both cases the photos library is on an external SSD connected to each respective (i)Mac (ie each has a dedicated SSD).

Any thoughts/suggestion are appreciated ! Thanks.

Mac mini, 15.1

Posted on Nov 22, 2024 7:47 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 23, 2024 6:41 AM in response to peter from new rochelle

OK-- back to basics-- maybe we can narrow it down-- try these things:

Restart the computer (of course)
Re-start in Safe Mode. This bypasses certain potentially disruptive processes. Safe Mode is different for different computers, so see this:

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

Those are the easiest things to try. Then try these:

Use another library if you have one, or make a small test Library some of these pictures in it and see if the same thing happens. You can create a new Library by closing Photos and then option-clicking on the Photos icon.
Make a new user and see if the same problem recurs there
Rebuild your Photos Library--close Photos and re-launch by option-command-clicking the app icon.

The idea is to find out if the problem is with the Library, with your account, or with caches and login items, and stuff like that. One of these steps may fix the problem, but their failure to work also helps figure out what's happening.

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Answer 2

Nov 22, 2024 8:29 AM in response to peter from new rochelle

I can't find a single instance of pictures in my Libraries having “Looking up location info..”

On the other hand, I just turned off wifi, transferred some pictures into another Library, and then I got “Looking up location info..” for those images. I've turned wifi back on, the locations haven't come back, yet. But in Libraries that already had the location, it's still there.

The map coordinates are local. The names are from a lookup table on the internet.

You may need to leave the computer on with Photos in the background overnight. The location priority might be lower than some other things Photos and the Mac are trying to do.

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Answer 3

Nov 22, 2024 9:16 AM in response to peter from new rochelle

Are your external drives formatted APFS?

The small test Library that I referred to earlier got the new place names within 20 minutes (probably less,) and I only transferred 3 pictures. A large Library would take longer. It sounds like it's already found names for some.

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Answer 4

Nov 22, 2024 12:13 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

Hi Richard. Yes, the library is formatted APFS. The thing I find really puzzling is when I see a group of photos taken at same location all within the space of a few minutes, all showing the same location (map & pin) where some have the(correct) location in the text field and the others are still "looking for location info.." (and on all other platforms such as iPhone, iPad etc) have location text resolved).

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Answer 5

Nov 22, 2024 8:49 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Thanks. That is my understanding (co-ords local, name from internet/apple servers). I have given the new Mac mini about 1 week and it has never progressed further at this point though ..

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