Transferring iPhone photos and videos to your Mac can save precious space on your mobile device. Plus, it’s easier to edit and retouch when you’ve got a larger screen with a higher resolution, not to mention that native Mac tools allow you to convert, resize, and organize your images in no time. In this article, we’ll cover the four quickest ways to transfer your images over.
The best ways to transfer photos from an iPhone to a Mac
Because iPhone and Mac are parts of the Apple ecosystem, there are multiple ways to connect them and move content around. Some involve using a USB cable, others work wirelessly. These methods have proven the handiest in our experience:
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- Sync photos to your Mac using Finder (macOS Catalina or later)
- Move photos and other content with AnyTrans
- Import pictures to the Photos app
- Upload photos using ImageCapture
- AirDrop photos from iPhone to a Mac
- Transfer photos using iCloud
Let's talk about all these in more detail.
Before you transfer your iPhone pictures to the Mac
Although Macs have more storage than iPhones, that storage is not infinite, so you might want to avoid dumping thousands of unneeded pics onto your Mac. We’re talking blurry party selfies, multiple shots of the same sunset, taken just seconds apart, long-forgotten screenshots of long-forgotten conversations — those can add up to a few gigabytes.
So before you start the transfer, scan your iPhone pics with Gemini Photos: Gallery Cleaner. This app will find all the clutter you’ve accumulated over the years, such as similar shots and blurry photos, and help you delete them in no time.
Now that you’ve done that, here are our top ways to transfer photos and videos.
How to import photos from an iPhone to a Mac with a USB cable
The most common ways to transfer pictures from your iPhone to your Mac involve connecting your devices with a USB cable. But even then, you have options depending on which application you want to use. Below you’ll read about four different apps that will help you sync your photos.
Move photos from iPhone to Mac using Finder
Starting with macOS Catalina (10.15) or later, you can sync your iPhone with a Mac using Finder. Follow these steps to sync photos from your iPhone to your Mac:
- Connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cable.
- On the Mac, open a new Finder window.
- In the sidebar, under your Devices, click on your iPhone.
- At the top of the window, click Photos.
- Check the “Sync Photos” box.
- Choose the app or folder that you want to sync from.
- Choose to sync all photos and albums or just selected albums.
- Click Apply.
How to transfer photos from iPhone to computer with AnyTrans
iCloud and Photos are obvious choices for image transferring, but they're not without flaws. If you want to transfer all content from your iPhone without having to wait forever, and back it up at the same time, a third-party utility like AnyTrans for iOS makes much more sense.
A combination of a backup tool and media downloader, AnyTrans helps you migrate content. Here’s how you use it to move photos and everything else from your iPhone:
- Launch AnyTrans and ensure both your devices are connected to the same network.
- Connect iPhone to your Mac’s USB port.
- Allow AnyTrans access to your photo library.
- Go to Device Manager > Export iPhone content to computer.
Your content will travel instantly. What’s more, it will sync to iCloud — so there’s no need to worry your photos don’t have a backup.
Import photos from an iPhone to a Mac using Photos
One of the quickest methods is to plug the Lightning-to-USB cable you use to charge the iPhone into one of your Mac’s USB ports. When an iPhone is connected, the macOS Photos app automatically opens and suggests importing your photos. Here’s the import process, step by step.
- Connect your iPhone to the Mac using a Lightning-to-USB cable
- If needed, unlock your iPhone and confirm it trusts the device
- The Photos app should load and show you the images from your iPhone in the main window. If that doesn't happen, select your iPhone from the left-hand menu in the Photos app. Now you’ll see all of the images and videos stored in your iPhone’s Camera Roll.
- Click Import All New Items in the top right-hand corner, or go through the photos, select the ones you want to import, and click Import Selected
Once the import is complete, you can ask Photos to automatically delete the pics on your iPhone, giving you space to start again and take even more pictures.
Upload photos from iPhone to Mac using Image Capture
Another method for transferring your pictures from iPhone to Mac is with the Image Capture app, which comes by default with macOS. Follow these steps to import pics from your iPhone:
- Connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cable.
- On your Mac, open Image Capture.
- In the sidebar, select your iPhone under the Devices category.
- At the bottom of the window, click the Import To menu to choose where to save your pictures.
- Select the pictures you want to import and click the Import button or click Import All.
How to transfer photos from an iPhone to a Mac wirelessly
If you don’t have a USB cable nearby, don’t worry. You can still send pics from your phone wirelessly. And even if you have a cable close, you might want to try one of these methods to save you the hassle of plugging your iPhone into your computer.
Send photos from iPhone to Mac using AirDrop
If you need to move just a few of your images over to your Mac, the quickest way to do that is by using AirDrop.
Start by switching AirDrop on your iPhone.
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- Go to Settings
- Tap General
- Scroll to AirDrop
- Set this to Everyone to send data via AirDrop to any device
Now switch it on on your Mac:
- Open Finder
- Click Go in the menu bar and select AirDrop
- A Finder window will open, with the AirDrop icon at the bottom. It looks like an old-fashioned set of blue radio waves
- Below this icon is a dropdown. Click on it and select Everyone.
Give both devices a few moments to find one another.
Now, here’s how you transfer photos from your iPhone to your Mac with AirDrop:
- Open Photos on your iPhone
- Select the pics you want to transfer
- Tap the sharing button in the bottom left-hand corner
- Wait till AirDrop finds your Mac and tap on it
- On your Mac you’ll see a pop-up window asking you to accept the photos. Click Accept.
Depending on your Mac’s settings, you may be asked where you want to save the photos. Once you’re done transferring, you can switch off AirDrop on your Mac and iPhone.
Sync photos from an iPhone to a Mac using iCloud
Another way to move photos from an iPhone to a Mac is with iCloud. iCloud Photo Library, a.k.a. iCloud Photos, can do all the heavy lifting. However, if you’ve got over 5GB of photos and videos, you’ll need to upgrade your storage plan, paying anything from $0.99 per month for 50GB to $9.99 for 2TB of cloud storage.
To set up iCloud Photo Library on your iPhone, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings
Tap on your name at the top
- Go to iCloud
- Underneath the iCloud storage indicator, you’ll see a list of Apps Using iCloud
- Tap on Photos
- Switch on iCloud Photos
Now, to set it up on your Mac:
- Launch the Photos app
- Go to the Photos menu in the menu bar
- Click on Preferences
- Next, click on iCloud
- Check the box next to iCloud Photo Library (iCloud Photos in macOS Mojave)
Provided you’ve followed both series of steps and both your devices are using the same Apple ID, your photos and videos will automatically sync between iPhone and Mac.
Remember: while you have iCloud Photo Library on, any changes you make to photos on one device will automatically sync to the other. So if you want to delete them on your iPhone and keep them on your Mac, switch off the sync after you’ve transferred everything.
Whichever method you use, Apple makes it easy to transfer photos and videos from an iPhone to a Mac. Just make sure you move the pics you really need, otherwise you’re just shuffling clutter around.
Get an ultimate backup app
Just a few years ago, knowing how to backup iPhone to computer hardware was common. Now, with iCloud, most of us back our iPhones up to the cloud, and the days of iTunes and iPhone backups are behind us.
But you can still backup your iPhone up to your Mac! It’s still possible in macOS 10.15 Catalina and above. The option is a bit hidden and quite basic, but it can be done.
We’ll show you exactly how to backup iPhone on Mac computers Apple’s way, and show you how to make the process much, much better!
We’ll show you exactly how to backup iPhone on Mac computers Apple’s way, and show you how to make the process much, much better!
How to backup your iPhone, iPad to Mac in macOS Catalina and Big Sur
Backing up an iPhone is the absolute best way to make sure you avoid data loss. If you never backed your iPhone up, you run a huge risk of losing all of your important data like photos, notes, reminders, and calendar appointments. You may even lose access to apps no longer available in the App Store that you’ve already downloaded.
The old method for creating backups involved iTunes. You’d plug your iPhone into the Mac, spin up iTunes, and start the process of backing your iPhone up. When Apple ditched iTunes, it left many users asking “how to backup my iPhone to my computer?”
Well, you still plug it in, and you still create a backup – it’s just a lot more basic, now. Here’s the default method for how to backup iPhone to computer hardware like a Mac:
- Connect your iPhone to your Mac
- Open Finder
- On the left-hand side, select your iPhone under “Locations” (Note: If it’s your first time connecting your iPhone to your computer, select “Trust”)
- In the button bar, select “General”
- Under “Backups,” select “Back up all of the data on this iPhone to this Mac”
- Select “Back Up Now”
The good news is knowing how to backup iPhone to Mac is still as simple as plugging it in! You can also choose to encrypt the backup, if you like.
How to backup iPhone to iCloud on Mac
First, know there’s no need to use your Mac to backup your iPhone to iCloud; you can do it on your iPhone without plugging it in! Just follow these steps:
- On your iPhone, open Settings
- Select your Apple ID banner at the top
- Select “iCloud”
- Select “iCloud Backup”
From here, you can select “Back Up Now.” If you don’t want to manually back your iPhone up, make sure the “iCloud Backup” option at the top of the screen is toggled on. This will back your iPhone up automatically and periodically when it’s charging.
But if you want to know how to backup iPhone on a computer to the cloud, here’s how:
- Connect your iPhone to your Mac
- Open Finder
- On the left-hand side, select your iPhone under “Locations” (Note: If it’s your first time connecting your iPhone to your computer, select “Trust”)
- In the button bar, select “General”
- Under “Backups,” select “Back up your most important data on your iPhone to iCloud”
- Select “Back Up Now”
This will begin an immediate backup of your iPhone to iCloud, much as you would on your iPhone without plugging it in.
How to restore your iOS device backups on a Mac
Now that we know how to backup iPhone to computer hard drives – how can we restore our iPhone from a backup?
First things first: to do this, you will have to back your iPhone up to the Mac you’re plugging it into. If you don’t have a backup on your Mac, the only other way is to use iCloud. But if you followed the first set of instructions and have a backup of your iPhone on the Mac, here’s how to restore it:
- Connect your iPhone to your Mac
- Open Finder
- On the left-hand side, select your iPhone under “Locations”
- In the button bar, select “General”
- Under “Backups,” select “Restore Backup”
- Select the backup you want to restore from the drop-down list
- Enter your password
- Select “Restore”
Deleting old iPhone, iPad backups on Mac
Now that we’ve answered the burning question “how do I backup my iPhone to my Mac computer?” let’s discuss how to manage those backups!
The process will feel very familiar to our other instructions, but there are some subtle differences. Here’s how it’s done:
Download Iphone Contacts To Mac
- Connect your iPhone to your Mac
- Open Finder
- On the left-hand side, select your iPhone under “Locations”
- In the button bar, select “General”
- Under “Backups,” select “Manage Backups”
- Select the backup you want to remove from the list
- Select “OK”
This only deletes backups which are stored on the Mac. It's also really binary; Apple lets you store backups of your iPhone, but the purpose is to have a backup to restore to. What if you only want to backup data? We suggest Get Backup Pro.
One of the best features of Get Backup Pro is that it allows you to create backups of the data you want, not an entire iPhone’s worth of stuff! Maybe you only want to back up a few folders or files on your iPhone to your Mac, not an entire hard drive. The app also categorizes data, and tells you exactly when your stuff was last backed up. It’s a great option for those who want to backup photos or files more often than other categories of data, for instance.
Get Backup Pro also compresses backups by up to 60%, and allows you to store your backups on any drive. We really like the idea of having an external drive with the iPhone data you’ve backed up instead of relying on the Mac.
But if you do want to keep your iPhone data on the Mac, Get Backup Pro excels at backing up Macs, too! It can even be set to backup a Mac on a schedule, and in the background. Simply put, backups are better with Get Backup Pro!
Syncing your iOS device with ease
Yes, backups are important – but what about syncing data? iCloud can help, but it’s not always reliable. There are many instances iCloud data doesn’t show up on a device because your Mac or iPhone lost connection to iCloud and your computer didn’t tell you.
Instead, we recommend using AnyTrans to sync iPhone data to your Mac. AnyTrans unashamedly picks up where iTunes left off; iOS users who remember iTunes will love AnyTrans!
How To Download Iphone To Mac Computer
AnyTrans lets you transfer files and folders to a Mac with a few clicks. Once you plug your device in, AnyTrans shows you exactly what’s on your device, right down to any downloaded media, and lets you sync it to your Mac in a snap. Instead of hoping that the movie you downloaded syncs using iCloud (or any cloud service!) make sure it syncs with AnyTrans.
AnyTrans also categorizes your data. Photos, audio, videos, messages, apps, and other data types all have a unique category in AnyTrans, allowing you to pick and choose what you want to sync, and what may not be critical. We really like the photos feature, which categorizes the type of images you have on your phone. It’s great for those of us who take a ton of screenshots but would rather manage them before syncing to our Macs!
AnyTrans can also manage backups, and has a really handy tool that lets you plug in a new iPhone and migrate data straight from your old device. There’s also a really awesome media downloader if you’d like to download videos from YouTube or another source and load it straight to your iPhone or iPad!
Conclusion
Backups are critical to the long-term security of your data. Syncing is great, too, but is only a representation of the data you have in realtime.
It’s difficult to imagine losing some data. Important files, images, or videos may not need to live on your device forever, but you’ll want to make sure it’s safe and secure.
For syncing and backups, we can’t think of a better tandem than AnyTrans and Get Backup Pro. These apps make short work of data security and sync, and are native to the Mac.
Best of all, both apps are free as part of a 7-day trial of Setapp, the world’s best suite of productivity apps for the Mac. During the free trial period, you’ll also have unlimited access to nearly 200 other excellent Mac apps. And when the trial is over, continued access to the full Setapp catalog is only $9.99 per month, or $19.99 per month for the family plan, which grants full access to Setapp on up to four Macs. It’s an incredible deal we know you’ll love, so what are you waiting for? Give Setapp a try today!
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