How to Transfer Files from iPhone to Mac With/Without iTunes

5 Tips for you to transfer photos, videos, contacts, messages, PDF files, documents, and more from iPhone to Mac.

If you are a keen fan of Apple, you probably have more than one Apple product, including the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, and more. To work or study more seamlessly, you will need to transfer files between iPhone and Mac. To help you work more smoothly between your iPhone and your computer, here we will delve into how to transfer files from iPhone to Mac, either with or without iTunes.

Part 1. How to Transfer Files from iPhone to Mac Without iTunes

There are four proven ways to transfer files from iPhone to Mac without iTunes, including using a reliable iPhone data transfer tool, AirDrop, iCloud Photos, and iCloud Drive. Depending on the type of content you want to copy, the most suitable way for you varies. Read on to check more details.

Method 1. Transfer Files from iPhone to Mac with iPhone Transfer Software

Supports: Photos, Videos, Music, Audiobooks, PDFs, Contacts, Messages, and More

If you are wondering how to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac without iTunes, the most popular choice for you is to use a reliable iPhone data transfer tool, like EaseUS MobiMover.

With such a tool installed on your Mac or PC, you can freely transfer files from one iPhone to another or move data between a computer and an iPhone, without iTunes. Also, it helps to export iPhone contacts to Excel.

It's worth mentioning that EaseUS MobiMover is also a free and safe video downloader, with which you can  download Twitch clips or videos from YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and many other sites to your Mac or iPhone/iPad.

Sounds great? Get it now and follow the steps below to transfer files, including photos, videos, music, contacts, messages, and more, from your iPhone to Mac within minutes.

To transfer files from iPhone to Mac:

Step 1. Connect your iPad to your Mac with a USB cable and tap "Trust This Computer" on your iPad if you are asked > Run EaseUS MobiMover for Mac and choose the "Phone to Mac" on the main screen > Click the "Next" to continue.

Step 2. Then, MobiMover automatically reads and loads all the supported data on your iPad as the screenshot shows below. You are free to send them all or selectively export one data type at a time. Besides, you can set the destination for saving exported iPad files on your Mac. If you don't customize it by yourself, MobiMover will send them to a desktop folder named by Exported by MobiMover.

Step 3. Click the "Transfer" to import data from iPhone or iPad to Mac. When the process has completed, you can view, edit, or delete them as you want on your Mac.

 

These steps also help to transfer video from iPhone to Mac, send iPhone photos to flash drive on Mac, and more.

EaseUS MobiMover will bring you much convenience in many iOS data transfer situations. Whether you want to transfer photos from iPhone to PC/Mac or copy photos from one iPhone to another, use it to get things done effortlessly.

While if you need to transfer files like calendars from iPhone to Mac, you will need other tools. To check more details, go to the guide - how to sync calendar from iPhone to Mac.

Method 2. Transfer Files from iPhone to Mac Wirelessly via AirDrop

Supports: Photos, Videos, Contacts, Documents, and More

AirDrop is the solution provided by Apple for you to transfer files between your iPhone and Mac or between any other two AirDrop-supported devices. Although you can use AirDrop to share files across your devices wirelessly without a USB cable using AirDrop, you need to make sure your devices are connected via both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, or you may encounter issues like AirDrop not working.

Since AirDrop supports multiple types of content, here I'd like to take transferring photos from iPhone to Mac as an example.

To transfer photos from iPhone to Mac without iTunes:

Step 1. Turn on AirDrop on your Mac.

• Go to "Finder" > "Go" > "AirDrop" and switch on "Bluetooth" and "Wi-Fi" to turn on AirDrop on your Mac.
• Set the option "Allow to be discovered by" as "Everyone" or "Contacts Only".

Step 2. Turn on AirDrop on iPhone.

• Swipe up from the top/bottom of your iPhone screen to open "Control Center".
• Tap on "AirDrop" and set your iPhone to be discovered by "Contacts Only" or "Everyone".

Step 3. Once your devices are connected, you can transfer files from iPhone to Mac without iTunes.

• Go to the "Photos" app on your iPhone.
• Choose the photos you want to copy from your iPhone to Mac.
• Click the "Share" button and click the name of your Mac in the AirDrop section to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac without iTunes.

Method 3. Transfer Photos from iPhone to Mac with iCloud

Supports: Photos and Contacts

If you turn to cloud storage services for help, iCloud and other similar services, like Dropbox and Google Drive, will fulfill your needs perfectly, even when you want to transfer iPhone photos to PC. No matter which service you choose, there are two universal requirements that you need to meet:

• You use the same account on the source device and the target device.
• There is enough space for you to store the files you want to transfer.

Since iCloud is the built-in feature on both iPhone and Mac, which frees you from downloading the app, we recommend you try it to transfer files from your iPhone to Mac.

Step 1. Turn on iCloud Photos on the iPhone: Go to "Settings" > [your name] > "iCloud" > "Photos" and turn on "iCloud Photos". 

Step 2. On the Mac, go to the Apple menu and click"System Preferences".

Step 3. Choose "iCloud" and sign in with your Apple ID and password. (If required, enter the information needed to finish the verifying process. ) 

Step 4. Click "Options" next to "Photos" and check "iCloud Photos". Then your iPhone photos will be synced to your Mac automatically over Wi-Fi and you can access these photos in the Photos app.

If the files you want to send from your iPhone to the computer are photos, you can also use the built-in app, Photos, on Mac to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac without iTunes.

Method 4. Transfer Files from iPhone to Mac Wirelessly Using iCloud Drive

Supports: Word, Excel, PPT, PDF Files...

Apart from media files, some of you may want to transfer files like Word documents and PDF files from your iPhone to Mac. That's when iCloud Drive works the best. Unlike iCloud Photos or iCloud Contacts, iCloud Drive is designed for the sharing of documents.

To transfer files from iPhone to Mac:

Step 1. Turn on iCloud Drive on the phone: Go to "Settings" > [your name] > "iCloud" and scroll down to switch on "iCloud Drive".

Step 2. Go to the "Files" app on the mobile device, choose "Browse" > "iCloud Drive", and then add the files you intend to copy to iCloud.

Step 3. On your Mac, go to the Apple menu, choose "System Preferences" > "iCloud", and then enable "iCloud Drive". (Make sure you are using the same Apple ID on your Mac and iOS device.)

Step 5. After the syncing process, you can access your files in iCloud Drive by going to "Finder" > "iCloud Drive" on your computer.

By doing so, you can transfer iPhone files to the computer over Wi-Fi.

Using iCloud Drive is also advisable when you want to transfer files from Mac to iPhone wirelessly or share files between an iDevice and a Windows PC.

Part 2. How to Transfer Files from iPhone to Mac with iTunes File Sharing

Supports: Files created by apps that support file sharing

iTunes File Sharing allows you to transfer files between your computer and your iOS device via apps that are compatible with file sharing. Documents used in apps like Keynote, Numbers, and Pages, can all be transferred via iTunes.

To transfer files between iPhone and Mac via iTunes:

Step 1. Connect your device to the computer and launch iTunes.

Step 2. Click the device icon in the iTunes window and choose "File Sharing".

Step 3. Select the app that you want to transfer a file to or from.

Step 4. Transfer files between the iPhone and the Mac.

• To sync iPhone files to Mac: Choose the specific file you want to transfer and click "Save to," choose the storage location, then click "Save To" to continue.
• To transfer files from Mac to iPhone: Click "Add", choose the files you want to transfer, then click "Add" again.

Click here to know how to sync text messages from iPhone to Mac.

The Bottom Line

Whether you want to transfer a photo or a file from iPhone to Mac or Mac to iPhone, you now know how to do it.

The methods above apply to most iPhones and Mac computers, including MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, and iMac Pro.

I hope one of the solutions will help you transfer files successfully.

FAQs

For more information about how to transfer files from iPhone to Mac, check the following questions that people often ask.

1. How to transfer files from iPhone to PC without iTunes?

You can transfer files from iPhone to PC with THREE iTunes alternative ways - using an iOS data transfer tool or email or cloud services like iCloud and Google Drive. Which way to choose depends on your specific requirements. If you want to know how each way works, this guide is for your reference. 

2. How to transfer data from iPhone to laptop wirelessly?

You can entirely apply the wireless file transfer solutions to transfer data between an iPhone and a PC to a laptop because there is no distinct difference in the system between a laptop and a desktop computer. 

3. How to transfer files from iPhone to Mac using USB?

To transfer files from an iPhone to a Mac, you only need to plug your iPhone into your Mac and launch EaseUS MobiMover or iTunes. Then, you can continue with the steps discussed above.