Transferring iPhone photos and videos to your Mac can salve precious space on your mobile device. Plus, information technology's easier to edit and retouch when you've got a larger screen with a higher resolution, non to mention that native Mac tools allow yous to catechumen, resize, and organize your images in no fourth dimension. In this article, we'll cover the four quickest ways to transfer your images over.

The all-time ways to transfer photos from an iPhone to a Mac

Considering iPhone and Mac are parts of the Apple ecosystem, there are multiple ways to connect them and move content around. Some involve using a USB cablevision, others work wirelessly. These methods have proven the handiest in our experience:

  1. Sync photos to your Mac using Finder (macOS Catalina or later on)
  2. Move photos and other content with AnyTrans
  3. Import pictures to the Photos app
  4. Upload photos using ImageCapture
  5. AirDrop photos from iPhone to a Mac
  6. Transfer photos using iCloud

Allow's talk about all these in more detail.


Before you transfer your iPhone pictures to the Mac

Although Macs have more storage than iPhones, that storage is not infinite, so you lot might want to avoid dumping thousands of unneeded pics onto your Mac. Nosotros're talking blurry party selfies, multiple shots of the same sunset, taken just seconds apart, long-forgotten screenshots of long-forgotten conversations — those tin add up to a few gigabytes.

So before you start the transfer, scan your iPhone pics with Gemini Photos: Gallery Cleaner. This app volition find all the ataxia y'all've accumulated over the years, such equally similar shots and blurry photos, and help you delete them in no time.

Now that you've done that, hither are our height ways to transfer photos and videos.


How to import photos from an iPhone to a Mac with a USB cable

The most common means to transfer pictures from your iPhone to your Mac involve connecting your devices with a USB cable. But even and so, yous have options depending on which application you want to use. Beneath yous'll read near four unlike apps that will assistance you sync your photos.

Move photos from iPhone to Mac using Finder

Starting with macOS Catalina (10.15) or later, you can sync your iPhone with a Mac using Finder. Follow these steps to sync photos from your iPhone to your Mac:

  1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cable.
  2. On the Mac, open a new Finder window.
  3. In the sidebar, under your Devices, click on your iPhone.
  4. At the tiptop of the window, click Photos.
  5. Check the "Sync Photos" box.
  6. Choose the app or folder that you lot want to sync from.
  7. Choose to sync all photos and albums or just selected albums.
  8. Click Apply.

How to transfer photos from iPhone to calculator with AnyTrans

iCloud and Photos are obvious choices for image transferring, but they're not without flaws. If you want to transfer all content from your iPhone without having to wait forever, and back information technology upwards at the same time, a 3rd-political party utility like AnyTrans for iOS makes much more sense.

A combination of a backup tool and media downloader, AnyTrans helps you migrate content. Here's how you utilise information technology to movement photos and everything else from your iPhone:

  1. Launch AnyTrans and ensure both your devices are connected to the aforementioned network.
  2. Connect iPhone to your Mac'southward USB port.
  3. Allow AnyTrans access to your photo library.
  4. Go to Device Managing director > Export iPhone content to reckoner.

Your content will travel instantly. What'due south more, it volition sync to iCloud — and then there'south no need to worry your photos don't have a backup.


Import photos from an iPhone to a Mac using Photos

Ane of the quickest methods is to plug the Lightning-to-USB cablevision you employ to charge the iPhone into one of your Mac'due south USB ports. When an iPhone is connected, the macOS Photos app automatically opens and suggests importing your photos. Here's the import process, stride past step.

  1. Connect your iPhone to the Mac using a Lightning-to-USB cable
  2. If needed, unlock your iPhone and confirm it trusts the device
  3. The Photos app should load and prove you the images from your iPhone in the main window. If that doesn't happen, select your iPhone from the left-hand menu in the Photos app. Now you'll come across all of the images and videos stored in your iPhone'due south Camera Roll.
  4. Click Import All New Items in the top right-hand corner, or get through the photos, select the ones you want to import, and click Import Selected

Once the import is consummate, you can inquire Photos to automatically delete the pics on your iPhone, giving y'all infinite to starting time once more and take even more than pictures.


Upload photos from iPhone to Mac using Prototype Capture

Another method for transferring your pictures from iPhone to Mac is with the Image Capture app, which comes by default with macOS. Follow these steps to import pics from your iPhone:

  1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cable.
  2. On your Mac, open Image Capture.
  3. In the sidebar, select your iPhone under the Devices category.
  4. At the bottom of the window, click the Import To menu to cull where to relieve your pictures.
  5. Select the pictures you want to import and click the Import button or click Import All.

How to transfer photos from an iPhone to a Mac wirelessly

If you don't have a USB cable nearby, don't worry. You can still send pics from your phone wirelessly. And even if y'all accept a cable close, yous might want to try one of these methods to save you the hassle of plugging your iPhone into your calculator.

Send photos from iPhone to Mac using AirDrop

If yous need to move just a few of your images over to your Mac, the quickest manner to practice that is by using AirDrop.

Start past switching AirDrop on your iPhone.

  1. Go to Settings
  2. Tap Full general
  3. Whorl to AirDrop
  4. Set up this to Everyone to ship information via AirDrop to any device

Now switch it on on your Mac:

  1. Open Finder
  2. Click Go in the carte du jour bar and select AirDrop
  3. A Finder window will open, with the AirDrop icon at the bottom. It looks like an old-fashioned set up of blue radio waves
  4. Below this icon is a dropdown. Click on information technology and select Everyone.

Give both devices a few moments to find 1 another.

Now, here's how y'all transfer photos from your iPhone to your Mac with AirDrop:

  1. Open up Photos on your iPhone
  2. Select the pics y'all want to transfer
  3. Tap the sharing button in the bottom left-hand corner
  4. Look till AirDrop finds your Mac and tap on it
  5. On your Mac you lot'll encounter a pop-up window asking you to accept the photos. Click Accept.

Depending on your Mac'due south settings, y'all may be asked where you desire to save the photos. Once y'all're done transferring, you tin can switch off AirDrop on your Mac and iPhone.


Sync photos from an iPhone to a Mac using iCloud

Another way to movement photos from an iPhone to a Mac is with iCloud. iCloud Photograph Library, a.k.a. iCloud Photos, can exercise all the heavy lifting. Nonetheless, if you've got over 5GB of photos and videos, y'all'll need to upgrade your storage plan, paying anything from $0.99 per calendar month for 50GB to $9.99 for 2TB of cloud storage.

To set iCloud Photo Library on your iPhone, follow these steps:

  1. Become to Settings
  2. Tap on your name at the top

  3. Go to iCloud
  4. Underneath the iCloud storage indicator, y'all'll come across a list of Apps Using iCloud
  5. Tap on Photos
  6. Switch on iCloud Photos

Now, to set it upward on your Mac:

  1. Launch the Photos app
  2. Go to the Photos carte du jour in the menu bar
  3. Click on Preferences
  4. Side by side, click on iCloud
  5. Bank check the box side by side to iCloud Photo Library (iCloud Photos in macOS Mojave)

Provided you've followed both series of steps and both your devices are using the same Apple ID, your photos and videos volition automatically sync between iPhone and Mac.

Remember: while you have iCloud Photo Library on, any changes you brand to photos on one device will automatically sync to the other. So if you desire to delete them on your iPhone and keep them on your Mac, switch off the sync after you've transferred everything.


Whichever method you use, Apple makes it piece of cake to transfer photos and videos from an iPhone to a Mac. But make sure you move the pics you really demand, otherwise y'all're just shuffling clutter effectually.