Level 1

11 points

Image Capture not seeing all photos on iPhone

Using MacOS 13.7.6 and iOS 18.5. and Image Capture to download photos from iPhone to Mac directly, without using Mac Photos. Image Capture is not seeing recent photos on iPhone.

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 13.7

Posted on Aug 5, 2025 12:21 PM

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louis86 Author

Level 1

11 points

Posted on Sep 12, 2025 1:04 PM

Richard,

Tried all of these. No fix.

I mentioned earlier that Image Capture worked fine on my wife's iMac with my iPhone, so I used her iMac and IC to download all the photos from the iPhone to SD card. Deleted all the photos (3500) from the iPhone. Took a few new ones, tried IC on my Mac, still didn't work. BUT ...

One of the first things I did when this problem started, as recommended by you and others, was to stop and remove Bitdefender, using Apple Support recommended method. I have been running Activity Monitor and today I noticed that some Bitdefender routines were running. I found the Bitdefender Uninstall app and ran it, hopefully removing all traces of Bitdefender. Opened Image Capture. Bingo! It downloaded all the new photos quickly, without missing any. Tried a few more new photos - they downloaded. So, hopefully, the problem is fixed.

Let's hope it stays that way.

Thanks again to you and others for your time and suggestions.

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23 replies

louis86 Author

Level 1

11 points

Sep 6, 2025 8:25 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

iPhone 15, iOS 18.6.2

No other image capture programs. I do use Photoshop Elements 21.

Don't have any kind of "cleaners". I looked at Activity Monitor, I'm not very familiar with what it tells me. I assume that for a process if there is a number for %CPU, that program is running. The antivirus programs which I turned off don't seem to have any thing running. Even when Elements is closed Adobe has some programs running off and on at 0.00 - 0.5%.

louis86 Author

Level 1

11 points

Sep 6, 2025 1:43 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

Plenty of memory on both phone and Mac.

As I said earlier, phone and Image Capture work fine on other iMac running Sequoia.

I'm going to see if I can get a better fix on the date the problem started. You said the last Ventura update was Aug 20? Is there a place to see the date the computer updated?

Sep 6, 2025 1:49 PM in response to louis86

louis86 wrote: As I said earlier, phone and Image Capture work fine on other iMac running Sequoia.

Yes, you said that earlier. What percentage of your storage is free on your devices? (I said that earlier, too.)

Is there a place to see the date the computer updated?

I don't remember ever seeing an update date. I notice that a bunch of folders in Macintosh HD/System were modified on 8/16 for me, so that might be my last update.

louis86 Author

Level 1

11 points

Aug 5, 2025 2:52 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

Yes. Don't know what you mean by "hidden pictures". To the best of my recollection I have never had/used them.

No photos after Aug 1 are recognized.

Aug 5, 2025 8:42 PM in response to louis86

FWIW in my setup Image Capture does not show images synced from the Mac to the iPad via USB — only images shot on the iPad.

louis86 Author

Level 1

11 points

Sep 6, 2025 10:05 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Thanks, appreciate the effort.

Unfortunately my iMac can't go beyond Ventura. And ImageCapture had been working OK with it until last month.

louis86 Author

Level 1

11 points

Sep 6, 2025 12:12 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

macOS 13.7.8 is the version I have been using. The iMac is set on automatic updates. And Image Capture has been has been missing photos before and after.

Sep 9, 2025 10:03 PM in response to louis86

louis86 wrote:

Is there a place to see the date the computer updated?

Apple Menu > About This Mac > System Report... > System Information > Software > Installations.

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Image Capture not seeing all photos on iPhone