iCloud iCloud Photos - What do I need to know before enabling?

[sdsvtdriver]

I have yet to use iCloud Photos - I have never used any of the photo cloud products from Apple - all my photos are local to each device. I have pondered enabling it but what do I need to know first?

The benefit that is encouraging me to enable is I can take a photo on my phone and then when I'm on my Mac, it'll already be there to upload and link if I'm sharing something online. Right now, I have to Airdrop it to my Mac, then convert it to JPG from HEIC. Not horrible, but inconvenient.

It would also be easier to review and delete them from my Mac vs. on iPhone.

What I am concerned about is:

1. Where the originals end up? I've lost track of Apple's cloud photo products, but I recall in the past the high res originals were moved off the device.
2. Running out of space on my Mac due to huge photo store
3. How does this affect my iCloud storage? The photos are saved in a backup at this point, but if I enable, will the space be used 2x? Old backups and iCloud Photos?

Anything else I should be aware of or do before enabling?

 

[fatTribble]

It’s hard for me to imagine not having iCloud Photos on so I may be a bit rusty.
I don’t think there are any big gotchas.
The main point is whether you enable Optimize Storage or Download and Keep Originals. If you have more photos and videos than storage on a device you’ll want to turn on Optimize Storage.
Your full resolution originals will always be in iCloud regardless of the Optimize Storage option.
If Optimize Storage is selected you’ll still see the photos on your device but it won’t be the full resolution. Fear not. It’s safe in iCloud. On your Mac it sounds like you would want to select Optimize Photos.
Your iCloud backups should not be impacted since photos are separate.
I’ve never heard of a 2x storage issue. Hope that helps.

 

[TorbenIbsen]

I have yet to use iCloud Photos - I have never used any of the photo cloud products from Apple - all my photos are local to each device. I have pondered enabling it but what do I need to know first?

The benefit that is encouraging me to enable is I can take a photo on my phone and then when I'm on my Mac, it'll already be there to upload and link if I'm sharing something online. Right now, I have to Airdrop it to my Mac, then convert it to JPG from HEIC. Not horrible, but inconvenient.

It would also be easier to review and delete them from my Mac vs. on iPhone.

What I am concerned about is:

1. Where the originals end up? I've lost track of Apple's cloud photo products, but I recall in the past the high res originals were moved off the device.
2. Running out of space on my Mac due to huge photo store
3. How does this affect my iCloud storage? The photos are saved in a backup at this point, but if I enable, will the space be used 2x? Old backups and iCloud Photos?

Anything else I should be aware of or do before enabling?

Take the time to read Apple's actual user guides for both iCloud and Apple Photos before you do anything. Depending on your local situation things can go terribly wrong if you don't know beforehand what you are doing. Any mess will probably have to be cleaned up manually. So reading is time well spent.

Make sure that all photos are on one device only before activating iCloud. Otherwise you may end up with a ton of duplicates.

 

[sdsvtdriver]

Take the time to read Apple's actual user guides for both iCloud and Apple Photos before you do anything. Depending on your local situation things can go terribly wrong if you don't know beforehand what you are doing. Any mess will probably have to be cleaned up manually. So reading is time well spent.

Make sure that all photos are on one device only before activating iCloud. Otherwise you may end up with a ton of duplicates.

Can you expand on this? I don't have the same photos on other devices, but I do have some photos on my Mac and iPad that aren't on my phone.