How to Back Up iPhone to Mac in Detailed Ways
Applies to: MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iMac
The best way to avoid data loss is to back up your precious data regularly. Thus, it's a good choice to back up your iPhone when you want to keep your iPhone data safe. Besides, backing up an iPhone is also a recommended solution for you to switch from an old iPhone to a new iPhone. Via backup and restore, you can easily migrate everything to your new iPhone with simple clicks.
But how can you back up an iPhone to a Mac? Since both iPhone and Mac are Apple devices, it's quite straightforward to back up your iPhone to Mac, be it a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or iMac.
How to Back Up iPhone to Mac via Finder
If you are using a Mac running macOS Catalina or later, it's Finder, instead of iTunes, does the device backup. In addition to backing up an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, Finder also works to sync data between your iOS or iPadOS device and Mac. For example, you can transfer videos from a Mac to your iPhone or put music onto your iPad.
To back up an iPhone on MacBook:
Step 1. On your MacBook Pro/Air or iMac, open Finder.
Step 2. Connect your iPhone to the Mac, unlock the iPhone screen, and then click "Trust" to allow the Mac to access your iOS device.
Step 3. Make sure your iPhone is recognized by the Mac and click your device's name in Finder.
Step 4. Click "Back Up Now" to start backing up your iPhone to Mac.
How to Back Up iPhone on Mac via iTunes
While on macOS Mojave or earlier, iTunes is the official way to back up your iPhone on Mac. The steps to back up an iPhone to iTunes on Mac are similar to Finder. Besides, if you decide to encrypt your iPhone backup, ensure you won't forget the password, or you won't be able to access and use the backup again.
To back up an iPhone to iTunes on Mac:
Step 1. Launch iTunes and connect your iPhone to the Mac.
Step 2. Unlock your iPhone and click "Trust" in the prompt.
Step 3. In iTunes, click the device icon and go to "Summary."
Step 4. Click "Back Up Now" to start backing up your iPhone to iTunes on Mac.
How to Back Up iPhone to MacBook Pro/MacBook Air/iMac Flexibly
When you use iTunes or Finder to back up your iPhone on Mac, you can't make a backup of specific file types on your iPhone. Besides, you can't customize the destination folder as you want to. That's when you can use the iPhone data transfer and device backup tool - Qiling MobiMover, to get things done.
As an iOS backup tool, it works to back up and restore an iPhone all at once or selectively. What's more, unlike an iTunes or Finder backup which you can't view its details, you can view the backup made with Qiling MobiMover freely.
Other than data backup, file transfer features allow you to transfer files between an iPhone and a Mac or between two iDevices. It will be quite helpful when you want to transfer files to or from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
In addition, WhatsApp management, HEIC conversion, and video conversion are also available in Qiling MobiMover to help you manage your iPhone content better.
To back up an iPhone on MacBook:
Step 1. Run Qiling MobiMover and connect your device to the computer. Select the "Backup Manager" pattern in the main interface. Then, select "Backup" to continue.
Step 2. Qiling MobiMover will display all the iPhone files that are available for backing up. Just select all files by ticking the box next to the "Select All," and then click on "One-Click Backup" to proceed.
Step 3. Qiling MobiMover will start to back up iPhone files to your computer immediately. Don't suspend the USB connection while backing up.
Once you've made a backup, you can restore this backup to your device when you need it. But note that this will erase your device and get everything replaced by what's in the backup. If you do mind this, just try to use "Phone to PC" feature to back up your device instead.
Bonus Tip: How to Back Up iPhone to iCloud
If you want to finish the data backup on your iPhone, then it's advisable to use iCloud. Unlike iTunes or Finder, which stores your iPhone backup on your Mac, iCloud stores your backup in cloud storage. Thus, when you want to back up your iPhone wirelessly and have enough iCloud storage, you can make an iCloud backup. Before you start, you should know that once the backup is made, you can only access the files in it by restoring.
Ensure you have enough iCloud storage to store the iPhone backup and connect your device to a stable and fast network. Then follow the steps to back up an iPhone to iCloud:
Step 1. Go to "Settings" and tap your name.
Step 2. Click "iCloud" > "iCloud Backup."
Step 3. Tap "Back Up Now" to start the backup process.
The Bottom Line
You needn't worry about data loss with the backup files anymore. When necessary, you can easily restore an iPhone from the backup on your Mac, which is quite easy. Launch the program, choose to restore a device, and select the target backup. While if you want to manage your iPhone backups, choose "Manage Backups" in the same window where you click "Back Up Now," and then you can delete a backup as you want to.
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