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RAW+JPEG on iPhone and Mac: how to edit the RAW, not the JPEG
In Apple Photos a RAW+JPEG pair is one photo, and the JPEG is its original, so any edit you make starts from the JPEG. On a Mac, open the photo, click Edit and choose Image › Use RAW as Original. On iPhone and iPad, Photos has no such switch that we can find, so to edit the RAW there you need a RAW editor that takes the RAW out of the pair.
Plenty of photographers only find this out after an evening of editing, when the highlights won't come back because they were never in the file they were editing. Here is what's going on, how to get at the RAW on each device, and whether it's worth shooting both files at all.
How Apple Photos handles RAW+JPEG pairs
When a camera is set to RAW+JPEG it writes two files with the same name, such as DSC_1234.NEF and DSC_1234.JPG. Photos imports them together and shows one photo. Apple's own guide says it plainly: when you import from a camera that shoots both, "Photos uses the JPEG file as the original" (Apple: Use a RAW file as the original in Photos on Mac). A small J badge on the thumbnail tells you which one you're looking at, as Kirk McElhearn's guide shows.
That has three consequences:
- Edits start from the JPEG. The camera has already chosen its white balance, contrast and sharpening, and thrown away the extra highlight and shadow data. Pulling back a bright sky works far less well.
- The pair can't be split in Photos. As Six Colors explains, Photos treats the two files as one indivisible unit: delete the photo and both files go.
- Both files use space in your library and, with iCloud Photos on, in your iCloud storage.
How to edit the RAW on a Mac
Photos on the Mac lets you swap which file is the original. Apple's steps, which apply from macOS Monterey through macOS 27:
- Open Photos and double-click the photo.
- Click Edit in the toolbar.
- Choose Image › Use RAW as Original.
You can also right-click a photo and choose Use RAW as Original, or select several pairs and use the Image menu for all of them at once. The photo may change a little when you switch, because the RAW is now rendered by Apple's RAW engine rather than by the camera. Use JPEG as Original switches back.
If you want the files out of Photos, File › Export › Export Unmodified Original exports both files of a pair. To keep only the RAW, Six Colors' workaround is to export the unmodified originals, delete the JPEGs in Finder, delete the photos from Photos and import the RAWs again. It works, but it's slow, and it's Mac only.
What about iPhone and iPad?
Here the answer is less happy. We couldn't find a Use RAW as Original command in Photos on iPhone or iPad, and Apple's guide for it covers only the Mac. People asking on Apple's community forum get the same answer: Photos on iPad edits the JPEG of a pair. If you've switched a photo to the RAW on a Mac with iCloud Photos on, check on your iPhone which file it shows before relying on it.
So on iPhone and iPad you have two options:
- Keep the JPEG out of the way. Import only the RAW files from the card, with the Files app or a RAW editor, so there's no pair in the first place. The SD card import guide walks through both.
- Use an editor that takes the RAW from the pair. If the pairs are already in Photos, a RAW editor can ask Photos for the RAW file rather than the JPEG.
How Raw Smith handles RAW+JPEG
Raw Smith is a RAW editor, so it only ever imports the RAW. There's no setting to get wrong:
| Where you import from | What Raw Smith takes |
|---|---|
| A card or camera over USB | The RAWs only. The import sheet lists the card's RAWs grouped by day; the JPEGs aren't shown. If a card has only JPEGs, it says No RAWs. |
| Files or Finder | The RAWs only. JPEGs and TIFFs in the same folder are left out. |
| Photos | The RAW behind each photo: the RAW of a RAW+JPEG pair, or the DNG of an Apple ProRAW photo. Photos that are only JPEG or HEIC are skipped, and Raw Smith tells you how many. |
It doesn't matter whether Photos currently uses the JPEG or the RAW as the original; Import RAWs › From Photos… asks for the RAW either way. Two things to know:
- It's a copy. A RAW from Photos is copied into Raw Smith's own storage, on every device. On iPhone and iPad it's in the Files app under On My iPhone or On My iPad › Raw Smith. Your Photos library, and the pair in it, aren't changed.
- Edits made in Photos don't come across. Raw Smith starts from the untouched RAW and keeps its own non-destructive edits. When you're done, export a JPEG or HEIC back to Photos with Save to Photos.
The import guide covers every route, and Raw Smith recognises a RAW it already has, so picking the same photos again later doesn't make duplicates.
Should you keep shooting RAW+JPEG?
It depends on what the JPEG is for. Good reasons to keep it:
- Sharing straight from the camera. Most makers' phone apps send JPEGs quickly over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. If you post on the day, the JPEG saves you a step.
- A second copy on a second card. On a two-slot camera, RAW to one card and JPEG to the other gives you something if a card fails.
- The camera's own look. If you like your camera's picture style or film simulation, the JPEG is a reference. A RAW editor renders the RAW its own way; Raw Smith's profiles (Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome and Apple) don't reproduce a camera maker's styles.
- Clients who want images now. Event and sports photographers often hand over camera JPEGs and edit RAWs later.
Good reasons to drop it:
- You edit everything anyway. Then the JPEG is never used. Export from the RAW gives you a better one.
- Space. A full-size fine JPEG adds a sizeable file to every frame, on the card, the phone, the Mac and in iCloud.
- Clutter in Photos. Pairs you can't split, and edits that quietly start from the wrong file.
A middle path many people use: shoot RAW+JPEG with the JPEG set to a small size, so it's quick to share but costs little. Or shoot RAW only and import straight into a RAW editor, which avoids pairs altogether.
Where Raw Smith fits
If you shoot RAW+JPEG and want to edit the RAW on an iPhone or iPad, Raw Smith takes the RAW from a card, a folder or Photos and leaves the JPEG alone. It opens the RAW formats Apple's system decoder supports on your device, so check your camera on the supported cameras list; this post explains how. On the Mac it refers to files from Finder where they are; on iPhone and iPad it copies them in.
What it doesn't do: it doesn't edit inside your Photos library, it doesn't carry over edits you made in Photos, and it doesn't import JPEGs at all. If you want to keep everything in Photos, the Mac's Use RAW as Original is the way.
Raw Smith is a free download with a free tier and a 14-day trial; Pro is a one-time purchase or a yearly plan. It's in public beta on TestFlight for iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Questions
Does Apple Photos edit the RAW or the JPEG of a RAW+JPEG pair?
The JPEG, by default. Photos imports the pair as one photo and uses the JPEG as the original. On a Mac you can switch a photo to the RAW with Image › Use RAW as Original.
How do I use the RAW as the original on iPhone or iPad?
Photos on iPhone and iPad has no Use RAW as Original command that we can find, so it edits the JPEG of a pair. To edit the RAW on those devices, import the photo into a RAW editor that takes the RAW from the pair, such as Raw Smith.
Can I delete the JPEG and keep the RAW in Photos?
Not inside Photos. It treats the pair as one photo, so deleting it deletes both files. On a Mac you can export the unmodified originals, delete the JPEGs in Finder and import the RAWs again.
Which file does Raw Smith import from a RAW+JPEG pair?
Only the RAW. From a card or a folder it ignores the JPEGs, and from Photos it takes the RAW behind the pair. Photos that are only JPEG or HEIC are skipped.
Should I shoot RAW+JPEG or just RAW?
Shoot RAW alone if you edit everything and storage matters. Keep RAW+JPEG if you want instant JPEGs from the camera to share, need a second copy on another card, or like your camera's own colour as a reference.