Apple's 'My Photo Stream' Service Shutting Down in July 2023

Apple's "My Photo Stream" service is set to shut down on July 26, 2023, which means customers who are still using that feature will need to transition to using iCloud Photos prior to that date.

icloud photos
My Photo Stream is a free service that uploads the last 30 days of images (up to 1,000) to iCloud, making them accessible on the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, and PC. It predates ‌iCloud Photos‌ and has largely been replaced by the ‌iCloud Photos‌ service at this point.

Going forward, Apple plans to have all customers use ‌iCloud Photos‌ instead of My Photo Stream. New photo uploads to My Photo Stream will stop on June 26, 2023, and images will remain in ‌iCloud‌ as usual for 30 days until the shutdown point.

Because all of the images in My Photo Stream are stored in their original format on at least one Apple device, there isn't a danger of photos being lost as part of the shutdown process. Apple recommends that users who want to have their images on a particular device save them to the Photo Library on that device prior to July 26.

macos mojave photos my photo stream
Images in My Photo Stream can be saved to the Photos app on the ‌iPhone‌ by opening up ‌Photos‌, going to the My Photo Stream album, selecting individual photos, and using the Share button to save them to the Library. The process is the same on the Mac, but you will need to drag images from My Photo Stream to the Library.

Apple suggests that ‌iPhone‌, ‌iPad‌, and Mac users turn on ‌iCloud Photos‌ to view their photos and videos across their devices. ‌iCloud Photos‌ is available on iPhones and iPads running iOS 8.3 or later and Macs running OS X Yosemite or later.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iphone 16 pro models 1

Here's How the iPhone 17 Pro Max Will Compare to the iPhone 17 Pro

Saturday July 5, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year. As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
iPhone Car Key Kia

Here's Which Vehicles Offer iPhone Car Keys

Sunday July 6, 2025 3:03 pm PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. Apple has a web page with a list of vehicle models that ...
imac video apple feature

Apple Launching These 15+ Products Later This Year

Sunday July 6, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
The calendar has turned to July, meaning that 2025 is now more than half over. And while the summer months are often quiet for Apple, the company still has more than a dozen products coming later this year, according to rumors. Below, we have outlined at least 15 new Apple products that are expected to launch later this year, along with key rumored features for each. iPhone 17 Series iPho...
iOS 26 Feature

Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 3

Monday July 7, 2025 1:20 pm PDT by
Apple is continuing to refine and update iOS 26, and beta three features smaller changes than we saw in beta 2, plus further tweaks to the Liquid Glass design. Apple is gearing up for the next phase of beta testing, and the company has promised that a public beta is set to come out in July. Transparency In some apps like Apple Music, Podcasts, and the App Store, Apple has toned down the...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro to Reverse iPhone X Design Decision

Monday July 7, 2025 9:46 am PDT by
Since the iPhone X in 2017, all of Apple's highest-end iPhone models have featured either stainless steel or titanium frames, but it has now been rumored that this design decision will be coming to an end with the iPhone 17 Pro models later this year. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo today, the account Instant Digital said that the iPhone 17 Pro models will have an aluminum...
iphone 17 pro render majin bu

New iPhone 17 Pro Renders Highlight Apple Logo and MagSafe Design Changes

Sunday July 6, 2025 8:43 pm PDT by
New renders today provide the best look yet relocated Apple logo and redesigned MagSafe magnet array of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Image via Majin Bu. Several of the design changes coming to the iPhone 17 Pro model have been rumored for some time, such as the elongated camera bump that spans the full width of the device, with the LiDAR Scanner and flash moving to the right side. ...
Prime Day 25 Feature Warm Triad

The Best Early Prime Day Deals on Apple Products

Saturday July 5, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Amazon is soon to be back with its annual summertime Prime Day event, lasting for four days from July 8-11, the longest Prime Day yet. As it does every year, Prime Day offers shoppers a huge selection of deals across Amazon's storefront, and there are already many deals you can get on sale ahead of the event. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a ...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...

Top Rated Comments

ibrewster Avatar
28 months ago

It's obvious that it was a useless feature
It might have been useless to some people, but I personally liked the fact that when I took a photo on my phone, it showed up on my computer - WITHOUT having to pay for the privilege of having all 18,000 photos in my library stored in the cloud.
Score: 69 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Böhme417 Avatar
28 months ago
UGH. :mad:

I use photo stream all the time. I do not use iCloud Photos and don’t want to, but photo stream made it easy to show someone a picture on my iPad that I had recently taken on my phone without the need to have my entire flipping library synced.
Score: 50 Votes (Like | Disagree)
goonie4life9 Avatar
28 months ago
Gotta get those subscriptions numbers up!
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
28 months ago

?
This makes no sense.

It's obvious that it's a useless feature since it was developed before the entire photo library was moved to the cloud, not because it doesn't count against iCloud storage. Shared photo albums doesn't count against iCloud storage so you're saying Apple is going to axe that too?
In the announcement, Apple says "Moving forward, iCloud Photos ('https://support.apple.com/kb/HT204264') is the best way to keep the photos and videos you take up to date across all your devices and safely stored in iCloud. "

And then when you click on the iCloud Photos link in the support document, it says this-

"If you need more iCloud storage
When you sign up for iCloud, you automatically get 5GB of free storage. If you need more space, and access to premium features, you can upgrade to iCloud+."

I mean come on, they want people to buy more storage.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
28 months ago
Photo Stream doesn't count against iCloud storage. It's obvious why apple is doing this. That being said, very few people probably use it anymore.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
28 months ago
This was a cool feature before iCloud Photo Library came along; I loved seeing all my photos on my Mac automatically without having to transfer them.

However, iCloud Photo Library really does make the feature a bit redundant. The only issue I can see is some very old devices losing access to the latest photos you've taken.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)