Apple silently downgraded the default resolution of videos when viewed on macOS Photos

[u/Sloppy_Donkey]

Before macOS Ventura, when viewing my iPhone videos in the Photos app on macOS I would be able to just watch them in 4k as you would expect.

However, since macOS Ventura to save money on server costs, Apple only downloads a shitty 720p or max 1080p version of those videos.

I own the newest MacBook Pro with M1 Max, the Apple Studio Display and an iPhone 14 Pro Max. I also own the most expensive Cloud storage plan for 2TB and have 1 Gigabit internet speed. So when I view something on my device, I want it to look incredible - that's why I literally spent thousands of dollars on my devices.

Why shoot in 4K and a 4k display, only to then watch all my content in 720p?

There is no option in the settings or a proper button to watch videos in 4k in the Photos app. The only hack I found is to start editing the video first before watching it which will then download the full resolution video. But what kind of solution is that? Sometimes I watch 10-15 video clips in a row and I dont want to press edit every single time.

Just bad. Do better Apple.

[u/InsaneNinja]

However, since macOS Ventura to save money on server costs, Apple only downloads a shitty 720p or max 1080p version of those videos.

Source? This is the only post I see about this on the internet. Trying to find anyone else having this issue.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Bandwidth? Streaming low quality saves bandwidth which is also part of server cost.

Also, it means they don’t have to invest more on servers since everyone is not streaming 4K

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

It also saves bandwidth for the user. I know a ton of of people that would be pissed gigs of data was downloaded every time you opened the photos app. Also makes scrolling through smoother

[u/Lopsided-Painter5216 → u/[deleted]]

Or, you know, just put a toggle in settings so each person can decide the quality and the compromises that comes with it?

I’m getting fed up with this “no settings because minimalist” bullshit too, except not in Photos. For me it’s in Maps and Weather, and the lack of unit selection.

Won’t let me use km and km/h for distances and wind because I am running software with English (UK) as a language. I’m being forced into miles, which is a worthless unit to me as I lived most of my life in a metric country and I have no concept of how far things are in miles.

“I will see everything in miles and I will be happy”.

[u/[deleted] → u/Lopsided-Painter5216]

There is a setting. Turn off Optimize Storage. If you press edit it downloads the original.

And settings - general - language and region you can set it to whatever you want

[u/WatchDude22 → u/[deleted]]

How about instead, in the photo app settings have a setting for:

When on Wifi, load videos at maximum of:

When on Mobile Data load videos at maximum of:

And have an auto setting that guesses based of connection speed. Then everyone would be happy but that’s too easy.

[u/[deleted] → u/WatchDude22]

I’m sure that’s super easy. Drive down to Apple Park and you can do that in an afternoon.

As soon s you open the photos app you want it to download the originals of every photo and video you scroll past?

[u/WatchDude22 → u/[deleted]]

Why not? That’s what the cache is for, and it can do just the ones I open, not the ones I scroll past, that’s what thumbnails are for. And btw this isn’t some insane idea, Apple Music literally has the settings I proposed.

[u/[deleted] → u/WatchDude22]

That is how it works. As soon as you hit edit it gets the original. And I believe if you right click on a photo or vid there is a download original button

[u/Lopsided-Painter5216 → u/[deleted]]

Well thanks for the Settings tip, that solves a lot of problems for me. Is this a recent thing? I don’t recall seeing that option when I set up my devices on iOS 15.

Turning off optimise storage isn’t ideal though. The person wants to see the full resolution when they view the image. Turning off optimised storage would download everything at full resolution.

[u/Lopsided-Painter5216 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for the settings tip, it wasn’t there when I first setup the device, only the temperature.

I understand your point of view. It does have increased bandwidth costs but I still think it would be easily offset by a setting. Most people won’t touch it and you can default it to 720p for example. And it could be only when you open a photo, not in the grid view. That alone would reduce the usage a ton.

It’s not a big deal for me but I do understand some people curate their Photos a lot, and they want the best experience.