I know I usually talk about Linux server related topics on this blog, but I’m pretty proud of what I’ve figured out this morning on my Mac. As you know, the iPhone can really only fully sync with one machine, and if you want to connect it to a new Mac that you’ve purchased, you have to fully erase the iPhone and start over. (Of course, if you used the Migration Assistant to set up your new Mac, this won’t be necessary.)
Here are the steps to migrate your iTunes data from one Mac to another without having to erase and re-sync your iPhone:
- Make sure that iTunes is not running on both Macs.
- Disconnect your iPhone/iPod from both Macs.
- Copy your iTunes folder.
/Users/username/Music/iTunes - Copy your iPhone/iPod backups.
/Users/username/Library/Application Support/MobileSync - Copy your iTunes configuration files.
/Users/username/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iTunes* - Open iTunes on your new Mac and verify that Applications and Ringtones appear.
- Connect your iPhone/iPod to the new Mac and accept any new authorizations.
- Use iTunes on your old Mac to de-authorize the computer.
If you choose to keep your MP3’s separate from iTunes (and not in the library), this will only copy over the references to the MP3 files themselves.
26 Comments on “Syncing an iPhone with a new Mac without hassles”
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It worked! Thanks
Posted on February 24, 2009 at 2:26 am.
Pretty slick. Thanks for the tip. It worked like a champ.
Posted on February 26, 2009 at 8:34 pm.
Awesome! Thanks, This saved me a lot of work.
Posted on March 14, 2009 at 1:26 pm.
Great tip. Worked like a charm.
Posted on April 3, 2009 at 2:49 pm.
It would be nice if you could post a solution for when the OLD MAC is completely out of commision, and migration assistant can’t grab that data.
But the iphone itself has the data
I can’t even set up my mail, although mail works on my iphone
Posted on April 4, 2009 at 11:53 am.
Worked perfectly, and saved a ton of time – thanks!
Posted on April 26, 2009 at 12:06 pm.
Dumb question – I’d like to wholly transfer my iphone over from an old Dell to a new MBP, so will this strategy work for a PC-to-Mac transfer just as well? I already transferred the iTunes folder, and do see the Applications and Ringtones. But when I plug in the phone it does threaten to erase everything, and although I think i am prepared (contacts, calendar = google sync), it does make me nervous. Thanks for any advice to a new MacNoob
Posted on June 18, 2009 at 10:23 pm.
Teh roxxors. Worked like a charm. Thanks for posting.
Posted on June 28, 2009 at 8:50 pm.
Another thank-you. Worked like a charm for me!
Posted on July 2, 2009 at 8:38 am.
I’m glad everyone found this guide handy! Thanks for the feedback.
Posted on July 2, 2009 at 8:38 am.
pure genius. thanks bra
Posted on July 12, 2009 at 4:36 pm.
great! thanks for the solution I was looking for
Posted on August 9, 2009 at 2:34 pm.
Thank you so much for this! Works perfectly and saved me a lot of time!
Posted on September 5, 2009 at 6:36 am.
I was synced to an iMac and the HD when out. Anyway to sync the iPhone to a newly formatted iMac?
Thanks for the tips! Wish I could try your method.. wish my machine didn’t die!
Posted on September 26, 2009 at 6:44 pm.
I’m in a similar situation as Jonah (above). I think if you’ve completely lost the hard drive (and thus, all your original itunes library) the only thing you can salvage would be the music by using one of the non-official iphone ripping software to pull whatever you have stored on your iphone, back to your new Mac. I would then make a backup of the iphone, right click over the device as it appares in itunes.
Then make the switch over and sync with the new iTunes on the new Mac… it gives you a warning that the iPhone is currently synced with another itunes library, you’ll have to approve it, which will **theoretically** erase the music. I haven’t done this step so i hope it doesn’t erase the apps i’ve purchased. This is the only caveat i am slightly worried about is losing these apps. I’ve already been able to restore and snyc up the contacts into the address book from my iphone, which surprised me. Im using iTunes 9.0.1 and iPhone OS 3.1.0 i think.
Posted on September 30, 2009 at 10:38 pm.
Dude you rock. This helped me ten fold migrate over to my new macbook.
Posted on October 2, 2009 at 9:49 pm.
Thanks a lot. Worked well even between a Snow Leopard and Leopard Mac.
Posted on October 15, 2009 at 3:57 am.
What a tip. I just moved from a pc to a mac. I just copied all itunes folder from my pc to my mac. Was not sure what backup and configuration files to copy so tried without them. It worked…. All seem to ok
Posted on October 19, 2009 at 5:14 pm.
Going to try this on my new i7 iMac quite scared as I have over £250 invested in apps!!
Posted on November 16, 2009 at 5:46 pm.
Woeked like a charm thanks a _lot_
Posted on November 19, 2009 at 12:57 pm.
What exactly do you mean by “copy” these three files?
Do you mean to say “Move them to the new computer”?
If so, how would I go about doing that?
Posted on November 22, 2009 at 1:07 pm.
Tried to use this to migrate from an old white iMac with 10.4 on it to a new 10.6 iMac but first of all the location of the files is a bit different on Tiger and second sadly this only worked for the apps but when I try to sync movies or TV shows it still comes up with the “Erase” option which drives me crazy…
Any ideas anyone?
Posted on November 24, 2009 at 3:50 am.
Can I transfer music from a iphone. Tp my new make. With out migrating from my old computer?
Posted on November 27, 2009 at 8:51 pm.
THANK YOU!
This even works when switching from PC to MAC!
Posted on December 20, 2009 at 4:07 am.
Glad to hear this is working well for so many people!
Posted on December 27, 2009 at 8:51 pm.
It has worked again ! thx
Posted on January 26, 2010 at 11:23 am.