Syncing iPhone to Mac with macOS is now done through Finder instead of iTunes. The change is pretty minor since it’s the same interface just in a different app, but one thing remains the same: you can only sync your iPhone to one Mac computer. That means, if you want to share files between your iPhone and more than one Mac — say while you’re on campus, collaborating at the office, or visiting a friend — you will have to use a third-party app, email, a cloud service or other workarounds to share and sync files.
Normally when you set up your iPhone sync Mac, you will be asked if you want to erase and replace the data on your phone with the data on that computer, which may not be ideal every time. The other option is to manually transfer files or use one of the workarounds we mentioned. The good news is, there are some amazing iPhone sync apps that solve this problem and make it easy to share files across multiple devices without dealing with the limitations in file syncing between iPhone and Mac.
The first in our list is SyncMate. One of the most multi-optional apps for iPhone and Mac synchronization.
Not only SyncMate offers the wide range of sync options (you can sync personal data, media files, folders, reminders, bookmarks and so on), but also allows mounting iPhone as macOS disk, texting directly from your Mac, checking call history on computer and backing up iPhone’s data on Mac.
Sync is performed directly between macOS and iPhone applications, no cloud storages required. BTW, with SyncMate you can sync your iPhone with any number of Macs, you won't be asked to reset your iPhone and rewrite this exact Mac’s data on it. Rather handy, don’t you think?
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Supported OS: compatible with iOS5+ and OSX 10.10+
Conclusion: Of the apps available for easy, seamless syncing between iPhone and Mac, SyncMate Expert is our top choice given all the file types you can transfer and the ability to use it with multiple computers.
SyncMate
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SyncMate
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Move to IOS
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SideSync
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HTC Sync Manager
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Android file transfer
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FreeFileSync
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Syncios
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Sync Folders
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PhotoSync
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Folders
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Folders
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SMS
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SMS
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Contacts
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Contacts
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Photos
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Photos
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Music
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Music
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Videos
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Videos
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Reminders
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Reminders
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Bookmarks
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Bookmarks
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Call history
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Call history
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iTunes
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iTunes
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All way sync
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All way sync
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Android to iOS
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only with Samsung
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only with HTC
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btw Mac & Android
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only on Mac
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btw Mac & Android/iOS
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folders on Mac
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btw Mac & Android/iOS
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The second app in our list is Syncios. Not as powerful as SyncMate, but also offers a wide list of useful options.
You can transfer music, videos, photos, apps, ebooks, contacts, messages and more between macOS and iPhone. You can extract data from iTunes backup, use your iPhone as an external USB Key for extra convenient storage and manage notes, bookmarks, contacts on your iPhone via Mac.
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Supported OS: compatible with the latest iOS and OSX 10.9+
Conclusion: Syncios is a solid choice for an iPhone to Mac app that lets you backup and sync many types of data between your device and computer. Using it can be hit or miss, which means you need some patience, but overall, it’s a good choice!
BusyMac team offers small and handy utilities for syncing contacts (BusyContacts) and iCal (BusyCal) between Mac and iPhone. In fact, there is a bunch of tiny apps that sync only contacts or only calendar entries between macOS and iPhone, but BusyMac turned out to be one of the most reliable (at least it synced everything correctly unlike other apps we’ve tested).
Both their apps offer wide range of settings and options even though they sync one type of data only.
Anyway, if you only need to sync iCal and Address Book on your devices, BusyMaс is right for you.
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Supported OS: compatible with iOS 9.3+ and OSX 10.11+
Conclusion: For anyone with a lot of meetings and contacts to track, BusyMac tools are necessary to stay organized and keep calendars and contacts synced and streamlined across iPhone and Mac.
Another app that syncs one type of data only, but syncs it perfectly, is PhotoSync. PhotoSync transfers, backs up and shares your photos & videos between iPhone and macOS over Wi-Fi. PhotoSync keeps track of your actions and notes which photos / videos have already been transferred. No cloud needed.
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Supported OS: compatible with iOS 9.0+ and OSX 10.5+
Conclusion: PhotoSync is the best photo sync app for iPhone to Mac wireless image transfer. If you are a professional who needs to work seamlessly across devices while keeping files organized and synced, this is the app for you.
The first cloud storage that comes to mind when talking about data sync between Apple devices is iCloud. It is a native cloud storage from Apple that allows storing and syncing data between all of your Mac and iOS devices. It is absolutely free and you can access your data from any spot on globe. Of course, if you do not mind keeping your data in a cloud.
Supported OS: compatible with iOS 5+ and OSX 10.7+
Everyone knows about Dropbox, and we’re pretty sure many of you have a Dropbox account. It offers 2 GB of space for absolutely free. You can store any type of files there and share folders with other users. And of course, data can be accessed from any computer or portable device connected to Internet.
Supported OS: compatible with iOS 11+ and OSX 10.10+
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Conclusion: Using iCloud and Dropbox to sync iPhone with Mac can be an option for sharing and backing up files to protect files and save storage space on your phone or computer. They are convenient, allowing you to sync iPhone to Mac wirelessly, but you do have to create yet another account to use them, which may be a drawback for some.
If you have had issues trying to get your iPhone to sync with Mac, you now have quite a few options to choose from for keeping your data organized across devices. It can be tough to keep up with the constant changes in software and operating systems, which is why we love using a dedicated iPhone Mac app for syncing files and backing up data easily no matter what operating system you are using on your phone or computer.
There are a few ways to sync data using the native Finder app or iTunes on your Mac or with cloud-based services like Apple’s iCloud or Dropbox software. Our go-to choice for an iPhone sync app that does it all is SyncMate, which lets you use one tool to gain full control over all types of files — from photos to text messages to apps to music — and keeps your data securely stored and synced whether you use one or multiple Macs with your iPhone. Whatever option you go with, we hope this article helped you solve any syncing issue you may have been facing!