I can't open/save Airdrop photos directly to the photos app from my iPhone to MacBook Pro (2017)

peachyee wrote:

I used to be able to open/save airdrop photos directly to the photos app from my iPhone to MacBook Pro (2017), but recently have only been able to open airdropped photos in the downloads folder which gets rid of the possibility of Live Photo editing. Any ideas on how to fix this? Both devices are updated to the latest iOS.

Photo stream allows you to sync photos between devices...

ref: My Photo Stream - Apple Support

moving forward see: Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support

If you go to share a photo on your iOS device directly from the Photo.app— I see "Options" Verify you have this toggled on

If Airdrop no longer supports your desire—you can /submit your Apple Feedback here: Product Feedback - Apple

You do have to do this on every AirDrop as the setting does not stick. It seems to only be a problem when the iPhone and the Mac use the same Apple ID, since there is no Accept/Decline notification when the ID is the same.

When Airdropping from an iPhone where the ID is not the same as the Mac, the accept/decline notification appears and you can choose the Accept drop down menu and select Photos.

Nope! You can Airdrop Live Photos as described above, just have to choose All Photos Data option in the pic that is provided when sending to Mac with same Apple ID. When sending from device with different Apple ID, all the receiver needs to do is choose the Accept dropdown on the Mac to choose Photos.

iCloud Photos is NOT needed.

No direct connection needed.

FWIW, I believe that the only ways of retaining the "live" feature of photos, is to have photos synched with iCloud OR direct wiring one device to the other to transfer the photos

Thanks, I stand corrected !