11 Ultimate Solutions to Transfer Photos from iPhone to Mac
Last Updated on February 3, 2022 by Peter Wood
Whether your iPhone runs out of storage space, or you’d like to edit photos on your MacBook, it’s time to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac. Since iPhone and Mac are Apple devices, you can find some built-in methods to transfer the photos without downloading an extra program, such as Photos, AirDrop, Preview, Image Capture, and more.
Besides the default methods, you can also get more others to transfer pictures from iPhone to Mac, especially when you need to transfer a large number of photos between the devices. Read the article and compare the differences between the solutions before choosing the desired method according to your requirements.
- Part 1: The Best Method to Transfer Photos from iPhone to Mac
- Part 2: How to Transfer Photos from iPhone to Mac with Media Server
- Part 3: How to Copy Photos from iPhone to Mac via AirDrop
- Part 4: How to Navigate Photos from iPhone to Mac Using Photos
- Part 5: How to Export Photos from iPhone to Mac with Google Photos
- Part 6: How to Download Photos from iPhone to Mac via Preview
- Part 7: How to Transfer Images from iPhone to Mac Using Image Capture
- Part 8: How to Copy Photos from iPhone to Mac with Flickr
- Part 9: How to Export Photos from iPhone to Mac via AnyTrans
- Part 10: How to Transfer Photos from iPhone to Mac with iTunes
- Part 11: How to Navigate Photos from iPhone to Mac Using iCloud
- Part 12: FAQs about How to Transfer Photos from iPhone to Mac
Part 1: The Best Method to Transfer Photos from iPhone to Mac
When you need to transfer a large number of photos from your iPhone to a Mac, preview the HEIC files, convert HEIC to image, and manage the iPhone photos, iPhone Transfer for Mac is the ultimate guide to sync and manage the photos. Whether you need to store your photos to free up more space or transfer the file among different iOS devices, computers, and iTunes, it should be the versatile toolkit to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac.
- Sync the photos and videos between iPhone and Mac easily and efficiently.
- Preview the HEIC photos and converts HEIC to JPEG before transferring.
- Create, delete, move, organize and view photos and photo albums easily.
- View and check the photo information, such as date, size, format, etc.
Step 1: After you have installed iPhone Transfer on your computer, you can run the program. Connect your iPhone to the MacBook via the original USB cable. Make sure the program can detect your photos on your iPhone.
Step 2: Click the Photos icon on the left sidebar menu and preview all the photos shown on the main interface. Moreover, you can see that all photos are classified into different groups.
Step 3: Choose all the photos you want to transfer. Then, you should click the Export button and choose the Export to PC option. After that, you can transfer photos from iPhone to Mac with the batch process at a fast speed.
Part 2: How to Transfer Photos from iPhone to Mac with Media Server
Is there a way to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac directly, which you can send photos from either iPhone or Mac without a USB cable? WidsMob MediaServer is a UPnP-based program to turn Mac into a media server, which you can transfer iPhone photos from or to Mac from other UPnP devices directly. Moreover, you can manage photos and videos from iPhone and more compatible devices easily.
- Transfer photos, videos, and audio files between different UPnP tools.
- Sync files to multiple devices within the same network simultaneously.
- Control over the connected devices, network, and transferred files.
- Import files from local folder, iTunes Library, and Photos Library.
Step 1: Download and install MediaServer on your Mac and other UPnP apps on your iPhone. Once you installed the program, you do not find the USB cable, check the storage space, or remember the password every time you want to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac.
Step 2: Launch the program on your Mac, which can detect iPhone with UPnP apps automatically. Choose the iPhone from the detected iPhone and access all the photos. You can select the desired files you want to transfer from iPhone to Mac.
Step 3: After that click the Download button to copy the desired photos from Camera Roll as well as the other applications. It should be convenient to transfer and manage all the photos between your iPhone and your Mac with the program.
Part 3: How to Copy Photos from iPhone to Mac via AirDrop
AirDrop is a default solution to copy photos from iPhone to Mac within the same Wi-Fi environment. It is a convenient method to sync files between different devices of Apple. But it should be difficult to transfer large files or multiple files at the same time, or even mention managing the files for these devices.
Step 1: Turn on AirDrop on your iPhone by swiping up from the bottom and tapping the AirDrop tab. Select the Everyone option from the dropdown menu beside Allow me to be discovered by:
Step 2: After that, you can turn on AirDrop on Mac. Open the Finder option and select the Go option from the menu bar. Locate the AirDrop option and turn on the Bluetooth to share photos from iPhone to Mac.
Step 3: Now you can find and select the image you want to copy photos from iPhone to Mac, click the Share icon, and on the next screen you will see AirDrop as an option.
Step 4: Usually you might find the pictures just airdropped from iPhone in Finder. Select the Downloads option on your Mac to transfer the photos from iPhone to Mac accordingly.
Part 4: How to Navigate Photos from iPhone to Mac Using Photos
Photos app is another built-in solution to transfer photos between iPhone and Mac. Go to the Photos app on your Mac, you can access the recent photos that you take with your iPhone directly on Mac. Since it is a feature of iCloud, you should be restricted to access all the photos of your iPhone. Just learn more about the process as below.
Step 1: Make sure you are using the latest iOS version of the iPhone. Set up iCloud on your iPhone and connect iPhone with the same Wi-Fi as Mac. Go to the Settings app and select the iCloud option to turn on iCloud Photos.
Step 2: On your Mac, launch the Photos app and go to the Preferences option, tab the iCloud option and check the My Photo Stream option. After that, you can find all the photos of the iPhone on Mac.
Step 3: Once you get the desired photos, you can download or transfer photos from iPhone to Mac via Photos in the way. If you don’t like to save the photos automatically to iCloud, turn off the setting mentioned above.
Part 5: How to Export Photos from iPhone to Mac with Google Photos
Different from the iCloud account, you do not have to worry about running out of space storage for transferring photos from iPhone to Mac via Google Photos. Moreover, Google photos are smart orientated like search by people, places, and things in them. Here is how to copy iPhone photos to Mac with Google photos.
Step 1: If you do not want to download the program, you can simply open the webpage. Of course, you can download the Google Photos app on your iPhone and register an account for both devices.
Step 2: Select the quality level of photos you want to transfer from iPhone to Mac and tap the Upload option. Make sure you are in the Wi-Fi environment since uploading photos charges large data traffic.
Step 3: Log in with the same account you register on your phone. You can find all the photos you uploaded from your iPhone now available on your Mac. Tap the Download option to export photos from iPhone to Mac.
Part 6: How to Download Photos from iPhone to Mac via Preview
Preview is the pre-installed software on Mac. You can utilize it to download photos from iPhone to Mac without installing other software. It is an easy method to transfer pictures from your iPhone to Mac just like from an external disk with the following method.
Step 1: Connect your iPhone to Mac with the original USB cable. Make sure the computer can recognize your device.
Step 2: After that, you can open the Preview program. Navigate to the top menu bar and click on the File option. Select the Import from your iPhone option, which you can see all the photos in Camera Roll.
Step 3:If you just want to download several photos, select them and click the Import button on the bottom right corner. When you need to download all the photos, just tap the Import All button to download photos from iPhone to Mac.
Part 7: How to Transfer Images from iPhone to Mac Using Image Capture
Image Capture is another pre-installed application on a Mac computer. Just like Preview, you can use a similar method to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac with ease. Even though the app was designed for other uses, it works just like the Photos app regarding transfer pictures.
Step 1: Make sure that you have linked your iPhone to Mac with the original USB cable. Launch Image Capture application on Mac computer, which you can find your iPhone under the menu of Devices.
Step 2: Click on your iPhone, the photos on it will be present on the penal. You can select a folder to save these photos with the Import To option on the bottom to save photos from iPhone to Mac.
Step 3: If you decide to select a few photos to download, you can use the Import button to begin to transfer. If you want to download all the photos, you can tap on the Import All option. A few minutes later, you can find your photos in the folder you selected.
Part 8: How to Copy Photos from iPhone to Mac with Flickr
Flickr is one of the most powerful and popular cloud services of photos storage. You can utilize it to download photos from iPhone to Mac without a problem. Before downloading photos, you have to install the program on both your iPhone and synchronize photos to Flickr.
Step 1: Launch the browser on your Mac computer and enter flickr.com in the address bar. It will ask you to log in to your account. After signing in, click the You icon on top of the page. The photos will show up.
Step 2: Select the photos you want to download to your Mac computer. One of the most useful features of Flickr is to allow you to decide the size of photos to download. You can find this option in View All Sizes at the bottom right corner.
Step 3: Decide the size and then click Download. Choose a destination to download and click the Save button to start to download photos from iPhone to Mac. The browser will save the photos in a zip file.
Part 9: How to Export Photos from iPhone to Mac via AnyTrans
Different from Preview, Image Capture, or Photos, which only allow you to download photos from iPhone to Mac from Camera Roll, AnyTrans is a program to get photos from different folders, such as Camera Roll, Photo Stream, Photo Library, and My Albums.
Step 1: Download and install AnyTrans on a Mac computer and link your iPhone to Mac with cable. Once your iPhone connects to AnyTrans, tap on Connect to Mac.
Step 2: The export path enables you to customize the destination of downloading. And the checkbox allows you to select the categories to transfer. Click on Photos to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac.
Step 3: Select the photos you want to download in any folder, click on the Download button on the upper right corner, such as Camera Roll, Photo Stream, Photo Library, Photo Share, Panoramas, Albums, and Bursts.
Step 4: After setting, you can click on the round button on the right to start to copy photos from iPhone to Mac. It can download the desired photos with a bulk process.
Part 10: How to Transfer Photos from iPhone to Mac with iTunes
iTunes should be the most frequently used method to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac. It is a designed program of Apple to synchronize files between iPhone and other devices. Just take advantage of the iTunes Photo Sync feature with the original USB cable to transfer photos as below.
Step 1: Connect your iPhone and Mac computer with a USB cable. And open iTunes on your Mac computer. If the connection is successful, your iPhone will show up on the top ribbon. Click the icon of your iPhone to open the left side menu.
Step 2: After that, you can select Photos, Sync Photos panel will be activated on the right. Check Sync Photos Select the option of Selected folders and then choose a destination in the drop-down list of Folders.
Step 3: After setting, click on the Apply button to begin transferring photos from iPhone to Mac computer via iTunes. This way will synchronize all the photos, so you have to wait for a few minutes to complete the process.
Part 11: How to Transfer Photos from iPhone to Mac Using iCloud
iCloud is a cloud service with a 5GB free storage space. Apple developed iCloud to expand the storage for iPhone users. When you turn on the auto-sync features, you can navigate photos from iPhone to Mac or other devices with ease. But if you need more space, you have to subscribe to the service iCloud instead.
Step 1: Open the Settings app on your iPhone and locate iCloud. After that, you can log in to iCloud with your Apple ID and password.
Step 2: Select Photos and then enable iCloud Photo Library. iCloud will back up the photos from iPhone to iCloud automatically.
Step 3: After backup, turn to your Mac computer and navigate to Photos. Select the Shared tab and click on the Start Sharing button to open the settings box.
Step 4: Check the box of the iCloud Photo Library. A few minutes later, you can find the photos moved from iPhone to Photos. You can save the photos on your Mac computer.
Part 12: FAQs about How to Transfer Photos from iPhone to Mac
You can use the Photos app to view your photos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch on your Mac directly. Connect the iOS device to your Mac with a USB cable. Open the Photos app on your MacBook and you can find the Import screen with all the photos and videos on your connected device, which you do not need to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac.
Go to the Settings app on your iPhone to select your name. Choose the Photos option from iCloud to switch on the iCloud Photo Library option and the My Photo Stream option. Head to System Preferences on your Mac and select the iCloud option. Select the Photos option and click Options next to it. Then turn on iCloud Photo Library and My Photo Stream.
Yes. When you import Live Photos into Photos from iPhone to Mac, the app tags the Live Photos, which you can see the Live Photos icon in the lower-left corner of a full preview of the image alongside the text label LIVE. Moreover, you can convert Live Photos to JPEG beforehand.
Conclusion
It should be the ultimate guide to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac. When you have a USB cable, you can transfer the photos with iTunes, Image Capture, and Preview without a problem. Just share the photos with some cloud services, like iCloud, Flickr, Google Photos, and more. You can also find some programs to transfer photos via USB as the iTunes alternative. Have you ever considered turning the Mac or iPhone into a media server, which you can preview and download photos from iPhone to Mac, or vice versa without restriction? WidsMob MediaServer is the answer you have to take into consideration.