iPhone XS Exposure/Saturation different when airdropping from phone vs "export unmodified" from Photos app

[kofman13]

Exporting some videos from a recording session and was testing the two methods of getting the files from my iPhone XS to my MacBook. The two photos on the right are from airdropping from the phone (with keep originals turned on in transfer settings), and the two on the left are from “export unmodified original” from Photos app running on my MacBook Pro 2015 (after it pulls down from iCloud).

They are the exact same size and format and codec but what is bugging me that I’m trying to figure out is why the airdrop from phone version is slightly less saturated and more exposed than the slightly darker, more contrast, saturated “from photos on MacBook” export on the left. Can anyone chime in?

 

[now i see it]

do more controlled testing. On this website, the way the browser renders your images, and maybe how the server compresses them during upload, the difference between the two is virtually undetectable. And even when comparing closely side by side it's hard to tell any difference at all to the point that the difference seems imaginary.

Whatever the cause, use the method that gives the best results. Perhaps one method keeps the embedded color space with the file and the other way doesn't.

But from here (looking at the image in a browser) they look identical to the point that if there is a very slight difference, it's undetectable to normal viewers.

 

[I7guy]

Maybe airdrop does a conversion from HEIF, which causes a slight shift in the colors?