Apple Photos app Corrupts Images Date: September 17, 2025 This blog post documents an issue where the Apple Photos app corrupts image files during import, based on the author's extensive troubleshooting and experience. The owner of an OM System OM-1 camera shares their findings and a new workflow to avoid this problem. --- The Problem The Apple Photos app sometimes corrupts images during import from the camera’s SD card. The corruption affects both RAW (.ORF) and JPG files, sometimes both from a single shoot. The issue was initially noticed during a family wedding where ~30% of images were lost or corrupted. Using the "delete photos after import" option complicated diagnosis since the SD cards were erased before the files could be verified. File corruption appears random and unpredictable with no clear hardware cause. --- Original Import Workflow Shoot in RAW + JPG on OM System OM-1 camera Import photos to Apple Photos app on Mac Check "delete photos after import" to clear SD card automatically This workflow resulted in occasional image corruption. --- Troubleshooting Steps To isolate the cause, the author systematically replaced or changed hardware: Switched USB-C cables Bought a new, genuine SD card Switched to shooting only RAW to reduce image count Bought a new laptop Upgraded to a newest camera model (OM System OM-1 MKii) Despite these changes, corruption continued, eliminating hardware issues. --- Discovery and Testing Stopped using the "delete after import" option. Verified files on SD card post-import were not corrupted, then formatted the card. Corrupted images still appeared randomly after import. Checksums of corrupted files differ from original files despite the same size. Re-importing the same image would sometimes import correctly, suggesting randomness in corruption. Concluded that Apple Photos app software is corrupting files unpredictably. --- New Workflow to Avoid Corruption Switched to using Darktable to import and cull images. Process: Import images into Darktable. Delete unwanted photos. Process selected photos. Export JPG and RAW versions. Import these final files into Apple Photos for easy sharing and viewing. Format SD card periodically only after verifying files are safe. No corruption observed with Darktable imports, confirming the issue lies with the Photos app. --- Summary Apple Photos app randomly and silently corrupts images on import. The issue is not hardware related, confirmed by thorough testing. Using the "delete after import" feature exacerbates the problem by erasing original files. Author recommends avoiding direct import to Photos app for RAW + JPG workflow. Switching to Darktable for import and culling successfully prevents corruption. Though costly in time and effort, this solution enables safe workflow for preserving images. --- This post aims to help others experiencing similar corruption and encourages caution using Apple Photos for critical photo imports.