How to Transfer Music from Mac to iPhone With or Without iTunes

This guide will list four proven ways to transfer music from Mac to iPhone. Read on and learn how to sync music between your Mac and iPhone or iPad within minutes.

To freely enjoy music whenever you want and wherever you go, you will need to transfer music from the computer to a more handy device, like the iPhone, in your hands.

In another article, we have detailed how to transfer music from PC to iPhone. Here I'd like to introduce four other practical ways to sync music from Mac to iPhone or iPad, with which you will be able to sync music to your iPhone from Mac effortlessly.

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

You can surely use iTunes to get things done when it comes to data sharing between your Mac and your iOS device. However, iTunes will cause data loss on your iPhone by replacing the existing content with the newly synced items. It's no exception when you transfer music from Mac to iPhone. Many users prefer to sync music to iPhone without using iTunes. So, how to transfer music from Mac to iPhone without iTunes?

The following introduction will introduce three ways to transfer music from Mac to iPhone without iTunes.

Method 1. Transfer Music from Mac to iPhone Using iPhone Data Transfer Tool

Do you want to transfer music without syncing? Or do you want to transfer music quickly and flexibly?

If you do, this iOS data transfer software - Qiling MobiMover, can serve your purpose. With Qiling MobiMover installed on your Mac or PC, you can:

Transfer data between an iPhone/iPad and a computer or between two iOS devices.
Manage files on your iPhone/iPad by deleting, adding, or creating new items.
Back up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch in your preferred way.
Transfer WhatsApp messages flexibly and safely.
Download online videos from YouTube and other sites to your computer or iPhone/iPad.

With it, you can not only transfer songs from Mac to iPhone but also do many things related to iOS data transfer.

To transfer music from Mac to iPhone without iTunes:

Free Download
Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to the Mac with a USB cable and tap "Trust This Computer" on your device if you are asked > Run Qiling MobiMover for Mac > Choose "Mac to Phone" on the main screen > Click "Select Files" to continue.

Step 2. Select the music files saved on your Mac, like MP3, and click "Open" to continue.

Step 3. Check the selected items and click "Transfer" to start moving MP3 files from your Mac to your iPhone or iPad. When the process is done, open the Music app on your iPhone or iPad to check the transferred items.

Besides music, Qiling MobiMover also supports photos, videos, contacts, audiobooks, contacts, and different file types on your iPhone or iPad. Whether you want to transfer photos from Mac to iPad or transfer files from PC to iPad, it will also help. Download it now and apply it to sync music to your iPhone safely and quickly.

Free Download
Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

Method 2. How to Copy Music from Mac to iPhone via Finder

Starting with macOS Catalina, Finder replaces, and now the functionality of iTunes is built into Finder. With Finder, you can sync the following files from your Mac to your iPhone or iPad:

Albums, songs, playlists, movies, TV shows, podcasts, books, and audiobooks
Photos and videos
Contacts and calendars

To sync music from Mac to iPhone with Finder:

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to the Mac with a USB cable and open Finder.

Step 2. Unlock your iPhone and trust the computer. If asked, enter your iPhone password to continue.

Step 3. Click your device under the "Locations" section and select the "Music" in the Finder window.

Step 4. Check the option "Sync music onto [your iPhone name]" and select what to sync, "Entire music library" or "Selected artists, albums, genres, and playlists."

Step 5. Make sure the songs you want to copy are selected, and then click "Apply" to start transferring music from your Mac to your iPhone.

How to transfer music from Mac to iPhone via Finder

Method 3. How to Transfer Music from Mac to iPhone with Cloud Services

Cloud services like Google Play Music, Dropbox, and Amazon Music also enable you to transfer music from Mac to iPhone by syncing. These cloud-based music streaming services help sync your data across your devices and allow you to listen to songs without downloading and thus save your iPhone storage. Of course, you can also download music to your iPhone to listen to it offline.

These cloud services work similarly. Let's take Dropbox as an example:

Step 1. Download and install Dropbox on your computer and iPhone.

Step 2. Sign in to Dropbox with the same account on your devices.

Step 3. Upload the songs from the computer to Dropbox.

Step 4. Go to Dropbox on your iPhone, and see the items you uploaded.

Step 5. Download music from your Mac to your iPhone according to your needs.

How to move music from Mac to iPhone with Dropbox

Part 2. How to Sync Music from Mac to iPhone via iTunes

iTunes is Apple's official way to back up and sync data between Mac to iPhone/iPad. If you don't mind the files on your iPhone being replaced by the songs synced from iTunes, using iTunes could be a choice for you.

If you have added the songs to the iTunes library, you can directly sync music to your iPhone by following the steps below. If not, you'll need an extra step to add files to iTunes Library: go to "File" > "Add File to Library" to add the items you'd like to sync to iTunes.

To download music from Mac to iPhone with iTunes:

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac and run iTunes if it doesn't launch automatically.

Step 2. In iTunes, click the device icon. If your iPhone can't connect to iTunes or is not showing up in iTunes, you need to solve the problem before you continue.

Step 3. Choose "Music" from the left side panel and click the checkbox next to "Sync Music".

Step 4. Select "Entire music library" or "Selected playlists, artists, albums, and genres". If you choose the latter, you need to further select the specific items to copy.

Step 5. Afterward, click "Sync" to start adding music from your Mac to your iPhone using iTunes. You can check the songs on your iPhone music library when it's done.

How to sync music from Mac to iPhone with iTunes

Other Tips to Put Music on iPhone

In addition to moving music from Mac to iPhone, there are other ways for you to put music on your iPhone. You can download music on your iPhone directly from the iTunes Store or subscribe to Apple Music. You can also transfer music from one iPhone to another to enrich your iPhone music library. For more details, refer to the guide on downloading music onto iPhone.

The Bottom Line

These are the common ways to transfer music from Mac to your iPhone or iPad. If you have subscribed to Apple Music, you don't need to perform the data transfer and your music from Mac will be synced to your iDevice automatically. If not, using one of the tips above should help you successfully copy songs to your iPhone.