Under Apple macOS, there is the factory-installed app “Image Capture” aka “Digital Images“. The application allows you to quickly import photos and videos from other devices. Now, however, a bug has been discovered that makes importing it not so worthwhile. Because the file size of images is inflated unnecessarily.
The error occurs under macOS Catalina in certain circumstances. So you only experience the error if you want to import pictures from an iPhone or iPad via digital pictures. If you then try to drag HEIF images onto the computer and deactivate the option “keep originals”, the app will convert the HEIF to JPG files. So far so good. However, 1.5 MB of unnecessary files are added per image, so that the imported files become too large.
The problem is more transparent if you look into the files using a hex editor – then you discover an area full of zeros – that’s the cause. Now, 1.5 MByte per image doesn’t sound so bad at first, but if you import a lot of photos, you can quickly reach large, unnecessary amounts of data. This can be annoying, especially for users who may be using a device with only 128 GB capacity.
Apple has been informed of the problem. Whether and when the company wants to eradicate the bug is still open.
