How to Manage Photos Between MacBook Pro & iPhone

[gamboolman]

Macbook Pro, 15", 2017
Mac OS Monterey, Version 12.6

iPhone 13 Pro Max
IOS 16.0

For managing Pictures in the Photo Application between my MacBook and iPhone - I want to be able to delete pictures from the iPhone but they always come back from the MacBook Pro?
How can I keep pictures from always coming back?

Apologies for not using correct nomenclature / terms - I am not much of a chiphead.

Is there a good resource for using Photo Application for both the Laptop and iPhone?

Thank you for any advice and assistance.

 

[IWT]

Thank you for your post.

I mean no offence, but how about you tell us exactly what you want?

You have a MacBook Pro running Monterey and an iPhone running the current version of iOS.

See out in simple terms what the ideal arrangement would be for you with regard to these two Mac products.

As examples:

You take pictures on your iPhone:

1. Do you want these to appear automatically on your Mac? And if so, that means using the built-in Photos app and using certain settings on the iPhone.
2. Do you want to backup the Mac's Photos app to iCloud?
3. Do you want to sync all pictures to both devices?
4. I gather you want to delete pictures from the iPhone without these returning? Is that the same for deleting pictures from the Mac's Photos app?

These are just basic questions. They are not all or none. Some of my suggestions cancel out other suggestions. Bu you can mix and match to some degree.

Just gives your ideal setup and we'll tell you how. Leave no detail out.

Ian

 

[Rod]

I want to be able to delete pictures from the iPhone but they always come back from the MacBook Pro?

You need to explain that in more detail. eg. What do you do, what do you want to happen and what actually happens?

 

[gamboolman]

Sorry for the unclear question(s) - I have tried to delete pictures from my iPhone that I don't want or need. Then as soon as I hook the iPhone up to the Mac - all the pictures are put right back on the iPhone.
Same thing happens when i delete pictures on the Mac - they come back when i hook up the phone.
Hope that makes sense.....
I would like to be able to delete pictures I don't want/need - but I am having No Joy ?
Thanks for any advice

 

[Rod]

Ah, now I get it.
Let me explain what I do. I have My Photo Stream switched on in Preferences on all my devices. This means all my devices have access to the same photos. If I take a photo on my iPhone or iPad it appears on all of my devices, including my computer.
If I delete it on my computer it goes to the Deleted folder in Photos on my computer but, not on my iPhone or my iPad.
Same deal for the iPhone/iPad. If I delete a photo on my iPhone it goes into Deleted on my iPhone, not my computer or iPad.
Note: All photos in Deleted folders on each device are permanently deleted after 30 days.
When Syncing your iPhone to your computer the data in your iPhone is replaced by the info on your computer. So be selective about what is synced in the photos sync preferences. eg. I just sync Favourites. These days you hardly need to sync photos by USB and many people don't.
You can however set the Photos app to launch when you connect your iPhone for bulk downloading but I find it's better just to rely on My Photo Stream.

The method I'm guessing you are using was fine before the introduction of iCloud Photos Library and My Photo Stream but now is almost redundant and only causes confusion.

 

[IWT]

Thank you for getting back to us. Although you've not really answered my points, I can tell you what is happening - as I understand it.

On your iPhone, photos are being synced via iCloud to your Mac in such a way that deleting from your iPhone reinstalls these pictures back on the iPhone.

There are certain settings you should consider, on your iPhone and on your Mac.

Here are my suggestions:

On your iPhone:

Open > Apple ID > APPS USING ICLOUD > Photos > ON

Open > Photos > iCloud Photos > OFF - and - My Photo Stream > ON

On your Mac:

Open Photos app > Preferences (Command plus comma on Keyboard or click on Photos app on top menu bar adjacent to Apple icon  and from the dropdown, choose Preferences).

From Preferences > iCloud

Your choice - Click on "iCloud Photos" once you've read what that means - if you don't want it, leave it unchecked. If you do want it, click on it and then decide how you want your Download ie Originals. Do Not click on Optimise Storage.

What all this achieves is as follows:

When you take a picture on your iPhone, it should automatically appear in your Photos app on the Mac. (you can copy these to the Photos app manually via USB as well if necessary).

If you delete a picture on your iPhone, this will have no effect on your Mac, neither will these deleted pictures reappear.

As regards the settings on your Mac > Photos app > preferences - you decide whether you want to back them up to iCloud or not as I mentioned above - Your Choice.

Ian

 

[IWT]

Ah, I see Rod beat me to it! He's a fast typer!!

Ian

 

[gamboolman]

Thank you to all of the responses.
These answer(s) addressed my issues exactly.
This is what i was after - albeit I could not articulate it clearly.... sorry bat dat !

I must say that I have had several questions answered here on Macforums by folks since joining over 10 year ago. This is a excellent forum / community and thank you to you all.

gamboolman....

 

[Rod]

I should have added that I don't use iCloud Photos Library, I made an assumption you weren't either.