diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/bolenpad/photophetch/device/IosConnector.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/bolenpad/photophetch/device/IosConnector.kt
index c60390a..8a8e10c 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/bolenpad/photophetch/device/IosConnector.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/bolenpad/photophetch/device/IosConnector.kt
@@ -147,7 +147,8 @@ class IosConnector(
     }
 
     override suspend fun pullToFile(device: DeviceInfo, devicePath: String, destinationPath: Path): Boolean {
-        val output = runHelper("pull", devicePath, destinationPath.absolutePathString())
+        // Use pull-thumb (partial 512KB read) for speed — sips can extract EXIF thumbnail from partial file
+        val output = runHelper("pull-thumb", devicePath, destinationPath.absolutePathString())
         return !output.contains("Error") && destinationPath.toFile().exists()
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/resources/scripts/photophetch-ios-helper.py b/src/main/resources/scripts/photophetch-ios-helper.py
index f19de91..47176ef 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/scripts/photophetch-ios-helper.py
+++ b/src/main/resources/scripts/photophetch-ios-helper.py
@@ -135,6 +135,28 @@ async def cmd_pull(device_path: str, local_path: str):
         sys.exit(1)
 
 
+async def cmd_pull_thumb(device_path: str, local_path: str):
+    """Pull first 512KB — enough for EXIF thumbnail extraction via sips."""
+    try:
+        lockdown = await get_lockdown()
+        afc = await get_afc(lockdown)
+        os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(local_path)), exist_ok=True)
+        try:
+            # fread(path, size, offset) reads partial file — much faster than full pull
+            data = await afc.fread(device_path, 512 * 1024, 0)
+        except Exception:
+            # fread may not exist or may fail — fall back to full pull
+            await afc.pull(device_path, local_path)
+            print(json.dumps({'ok': True, 'path': local_path}))
+            return
+        with open(local_path, 'wb') as f:
+            f.write(data)
+        print(json.dumps({'ok': True, 'path': local_path}))
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f'Error: {e}', file=sys.stderr)
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+
 async def cmd_delete(device_path: str):
     try:
         lockdown = await get_lockdown()
@@ -159,6 +181,8 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
         asyncio.run(cmd_list_photos())
     elif command == 'pull' and len(sys.argv) == 4:
         asyncio.run(cmd_pull(sys.argv[2], sys.argv[3]))
+    elif command == 'pull-thumb' and len(sys.argv) == 4:
+        asyncio.run(cmd_pull_thumb(sys.argv[2], sys.argv[3]))
     elif command == 'delete' and len(sys.argv) == 3:
         asyncio.run(cmd_delete(sys.argv[2]))
     else: