The iTunes program, included as part of the Mac OS X operating system, has a sync feature that shuttles information between your Mac and iPhone using a USB cable or a Wi-Fi connection. Syncing ensures that content on your iPhone, including music, movies and app data, is up-to-date with corresponding files on your Mac.
Video of the Day
Sync Using USB Cable
Connect the iPhone docking cable to a USB port on your Mac computer. Plug the other end into the iPhone.
Launch the iTunes program on your Mac, and click the iPhone device icon. This icon does not appear unless an iPhone is connected to your Mac.
Click Music. Set the sync options for music files. Click the Sync Music check box to sync music files between the Mac and iPhone. Click the Entire music library radio button to sync all music. To sync music files selectively, click Selected playlists, artists, albums, and genres. Perform this step only when changing music sync settings; you don't need to do it for every sync operation.
Set the sync options for Movies, TV Shows, Tones and Photos in iTunes, changing the sync settings according to how you want to manage your personal media library.
Click the Sync button. Allow some time for the iTunes sync to complete; the time varies depending on the size of your media library.
Sync Using Wi-Fi
Plug the iPhone into your Mac computer's USB port using its docking cable. This step is necessary only for setup; once set, you can plug your iPhone into a wall charger to sync through Wi-Fi.
Launch iTunes on your Mac, and click the iPhone device icon.
Click Summary in the list of iPhone options.
Click the check box, Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi if it is not already set. Click the Apply button.
Click Music and set the sync options for music files. Click the Sync Music check box to sync music files between the Mac and iPhone. Click the Entire music library radio button to sync all music; to sync music files selectively, click Selected playlists, artists, albums, and genres. Perform this step only when changing music sync settings; you don't need to do it for every sync operation.
Set the sync options for Movies, TV Shows, Tones and Photos in iTunes, changing the sync settings according to how you want to manage your personal media library.
Click the Sync button. Allow some time for the sync to complete in iTunes; the time varies depending on the size of your media library.
