iOS 16 Makes it Easier to Delete Duplicate Photos Clogging Up Your Library

If you use your iPhone to take and save a lot of pictures, more likely than not you have a few duplicate photos unnecessarily clogging up your photo library. Thankfully, with iOS 16, Apple is making it significantly easier to delete any duplicates taking up useless space on your device.

ios 16 duplicates
Apple is calling the new feature "Duplicate detection" and it works as expected. Using on-device machine learning on iOS 16 and macOS Ventura, your device will now easily detect and aggregate all duplicate photos in your library under the Utilities section in Photos.

From there, you'll easily be able to delete them, freeing up space on your device and decluttering your photo library. Since the feature requires your device to scan and sort out your entire library, it may take some time before your device starts offering up duplicates to delete.

iOS 16 is currently only available to developers with a public beta planned for July. iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS Ventura, and watchOS 9 will all be made publicly available this fall.

Related Forum: iOS 16

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...

Top Rated Comments

randomthoughts Avatar
37 months ago
Oh yeah, this is exactly what I wanted…



Attachment Image
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BootsWalking Avatar
37 months ago
Apple is calling the new feature "Duplicate detection" and it works as expected. Using on-device machine learning on ‌iOS 16‌ and macOS Ventura, your device will now easily detect and aggregate all duplicate photos in your library under the Utilities section in Photos.

In other words, the 2,000 selfies teenagers have on their phones will be deduped down to about 7 photos.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
37 months ago
Sweet! Much needed. Now, It will be easier to delete all the duplicate photos :)



Attachment Image
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
antiprotest Avatar
37 months ago
I had wanted this but weren't sure if they could do it. Pretty good.

I hope it shows all copies instead of only what it thinks are the extras so I can see for myself.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macfacts Avatar
37 months ago
Sneaky way to scan your photos.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TrenttonY Avatar
37 months ago
So does it only detect 1 for 1 duplicates, or use AI to find duplicates that are the same photo but a slightly different crop or file size? Because the latter would be way more useful.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)