Apple offers many applications that integrate with OS X and iOS to make syncing an iPhone with a Mac as effortless as possible. Programs such as iTunes and iPhoto copy your media to library folders, sometimes taking up extra disk space by creating duplicate files. Avoid this problem and save time by importing photos directly to your hard drive with alternative software. Show
Explore this article1 Use Software Already on Your MacBy default, iPhoto launches when you connect your iPhone to your Mac. Disable this behavior by changing your settings in Image Capture. Launch Image Capture by opening Finder, navigating to Applications and double-clicking “Image Capture.” Select your iPhone in the sidebar, click “Connecting this iPhone Opens” and choose “Image Capture” from the drop-down menu. When you select your device in the sidebar, your photos are displayed in a preview window. Click “Import All” to import these photos to your Pictures directory. Import photos to a different directory by clicking “Import To” and selecting a folder. Import individual photos by holding down the “Command” key, selecting photos and clicking “Import.” 2 Upload Photos to the CloudWhile iPhones include free iCloud storage, copying photos from iCloud to a Mac requires iPhoto or its professional-level counterpart, Aperture. However, many other free cloud storage options are available for iOS. Programs such as Dropbox, Google Drive and SkyDrive enable you to upload photos to an online account that you can access from a Web browser on a Mac. With each of these programs, you can upload photos already stored in your Camera Roll album, and with Dropbox, you can automatically upload new photos as you take them. If you plan to transfer photos often, install Dropbox, Google Drive or SkyDrive on your computer (links in Resources). These programs sync your iPhone photos with your Mac's Pictures folder. 3 Share With Your Mac Over Wi-FiLike cloud storage services, wireless sharing programs enable you to download iPhone photos from a Web browser on your Mac. When sharing photos directly over a local Wi-Fi network, you don't need to upload them to an online account before downloading them, so the process can take less time. Programs such as Wireless Transfer App, Wireless Drive and Air Sharing are available from the App Store on your iPhone. After installing a wireless sharing application, a setup utility scans your network for compatible devices and displays a Web address to enter in your desktop browser. Visiting this address gives you a folder view of the files on your iPhone, including photos and other media. 4 View Camera Roll Photos in FinderMount your iPhone as a USB drive in Finder by installing disk-reading software, such as iExplorer, DiskAid or PhoneView (see Resources for links). These programs display your iPhone's files in a graphical interface and include an option to turn your phone into an external storage device. Use the photo-import wizard to transfer pictures automatically when you connect your iPhone to your Mac or manually drag photos from the application window to Finder. If you store photos in iCloud, these programs can transfer them to your Mac without using iPhoto or Aperture.
About the AuthorDavid Wayne has been writing since 2010, with technology columns appearing in several regional newspapers in Texas. Wayne graduated from the University of Houston in 2005, earning a Bachelor of Arts in communications. (Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan) While most of your photos are probably on your iPhone thanks to the built-in Photos app, what about the images that you have on your favorite Mac? We're talking about your stunning photos taken with your DSLR of choice, a point-and-shoot camera, or just images that you've collected from all over the internet? How are you supposed to get those pictures on your Mac to your iPhone or iPad? The easiest solution is probably to use the iCloud Photo Library because all of your photos, whether from your iPhone 13 Pro, iPad, or Mac, get synced in full resolution across all of your devices. But of course, this requires enough space for your entire photo library, which means you need a paid iCloud storage tier. Thankfully, there are other ways to transfer photos from your Mac to your iPhone, so don't sweat it — we'll show you all you need to know. And we also have a guide on how to transfer photos from your iPhone to your Mac instead, if you need that too. What content can I view on my iPhone or iPad?The Photos app on iPhone and iPad can display several different types of file formats without issue. These will all appear fine in the Photos app, but you won't be able to tell what format they are on the surface — it will all appear rather seamless.
As long as your photo or video is in one of these formats, it will show up fine in the iOS Photos app once you transfer photos from your Mac to your iPhone. Otherwise, you'll want to consider using the iOS Files app. How to use iCloud Photo LibraryiCloud Photo Library is probably the easiest way to keep your photos on Mac and iPhone in sync, but you do need a newer Mac that can get the Photos app on it (macOS Yosemite and later). Here's how to enable the iCloud Photo Library.
If this is the first time you are launching Photos on Mac in macOS Catalina or later, you may need to make sure that the System Photo Library is on before you can enable the iCloud Photos option.
When you have the iCloud Photos option enabled on your Mac, you will want to ensure that it's also enabled on your iPhone or iPad.
Once iCloud Photos is enabled, it may take up to 24 hours before all of your content is synced up between devices. iCloud Photos also won't sync unless you're on WiFi, so make sure that's good to go before wondering where all of your content is. Upload photos from iCloud.comIf you don't want to deal with iCloud Photos (it does come with some headaches), you can actually use the good old-fashioned method of uploading to the web. That's right — iCloud Photos can be accessed from the web, and it's another way to transfer photos from Mac to iPhone, or any platform, really.
Your images will then get uploaded to iCloud Photos manually. A progress bar at the bottom of the screen lets you know how the uploads are going, and you can click Stop Upload at any time if you change your mind. (Image credit: iMore)Sync via iTunes or FinderFor those who don't want to use iCloud Photos, you can do the good ol' syncing method with the computer itself. You know, with a — * le gasp* — cable. If you are using macOS Mojave or earlier, then you will do this with iTunes. But if you are on macOS Catalina and later, you do this through the Finder, since Apple split iTunes up into separate Music, TV, and Podcasts apps. The reason you may want to sync with your Mac with a cable is that because you may be running an older version of iPhoto or Aperture, you may have certain albums in Photos, or you have specific folders or albums of images in your Pictures folder. Therefore, it's important that before you manually sync through iTunes or Finder, you have all of your images that you want to transfer from Mac to iPhone organized appropriately.
Use AirDrop to transfer photos from Mac to iPhoneOne of the easiest ways to transfer photos from Mac to iPhone is with AirDrop. Apple introduced AirDrop back in OS X Lion (10.7), so your Mac should work with AirDrop, even if it's a little older (Lion works on Macs from 2008). AirDrop uses Bluetooth Low Energy to broadcast, discover, and negotiate connections, allowing point-to-point Wi-Fi for transferring data. Between Macs and iPhones, and iPads, this is a quick and easy way to transfer files, such as photos and videos.
(Image credit: iMore)
While AirDrop is excellent, it works best for smaller batches of photos and video rather than your entire photo library. If you want to transfer your entire library, it's best to use iCloud Photos or sync via Finder or iTunes. Utilize a third-party syncing service(Image credit: iMore)Another great option to consider when you need to transfer photos from Mac to iPhone is to use a third-party syncing service, like Dropbox. For example, you could upload your pictures to your Dropbox account directly on the web or add photos to your Dropbox folder once you install Dropbox on your Mac. Dropbox has an excellent walkthrough to help you get started if you're a newbie to the service. Then on your iPhone or iPad, download the Dropbox app and access your photos and videos directly. While I prefer to use Dropbox for my photos, there are also other options that you can use, such as Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Amazon Drive, and more. It just comes down to personal preference here. Take your photos with you everywhereWe all have a lot of photos that we take and they're probably on our Macs right now. Once we're done editing them, we may want to just have them on our best iPhone to show them off. Thankfully, there are a few ways to get our favorite photos from our Mac to our iPhone, as we just showed you here. And if you need to do the reverse, which is getting your photos from your iPhone to your Mac, the process is pretty easy and straightforward too. Apple has made it convenient, and you can also use your preferred cloud syncing service of choice too. Updated August 2022: These are still the current steps for transferring photos from your Mac to your iPhone and iPad. Christine Romero-Chan was formerly a Senior Editor for iMore. She has been writing about technology, specifically Apple, for over a decade at a variety of websites. She is currently part of the Digital Trends team, and has been using Apple’s smartphone since the original iPhone back in 2007. While her main speciality is the iPhone, she also covers Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac when needed. When she isn’t writing about Apple, Christine can often be found at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, as she is a passholder and obsessed with all things Disney, especially Star Wars. Christine also enjoys coffee, food, photography, mechanical keyboards, and spending as much time with her new daughter as possible. How do I download pictures from my iPhone to my computer without iCloud?Windows Explorer allows you to transfer pictures from iPhone to PC: just connect your iPhone to computer and run Windows Explorer. Then, find your iPhone name under “Portable devices”. Open the “DCIM” folder, then drag and drop photos to your PC.
How do I sync photos to my Mac without iCloud?Here's how it works.. Connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cable and run Finder.. Then, your iPhone will appear in the sidebar of the Finder Window under Locations. ... . If prompted, tap on "Trust" on your iPhone.. Select "Photos" and check the "Sync photos to your device from" option.. How do I sync my iPhone to my Mac without iCloud?Transfer contacts from iPhone to Mac without iCloud. Connect your iPhone to your Mac via the USB cable.. Open iTunes on your Mac.. Click on the iPhone icon in the top left corner.. In the sidebar, click Info.. Check the box next to Sync Contacts.. Click Apply at the bottom.. How do I transfer photos from iPhone to Mac automatically?Sync photos to your device. Connect your device to your Mac. ... . In the Finder on your Mac, select the device in the Finder sidebar. ... . Click Photos in the button bar. ... . Select “Sync Photos to your device from” checkbox, then choose Photos, Pictures, or a folder from the pop-up menu.. Do one of the following:. |