01-02-2010, 01:04 PM

So i bought a macbook a few months back, but have always used my desktop pc to sync and backup my iphone. My desktop gives me nothing but problems so i am going to hook my macbook up to my pc monitor and use my macbook as a desktop. As such I want to sync my phone with the macbook. Is there an easy way to migrate my iphone backup so i dont lose everything. I have a 32 gb 3gs and have a lot of music photos and apps. I have read the article on "hacking " itunes so you can sync your iphone with 2 computers, but because it is not an official way to do it Id rathe rnot for fear of losing something or messing something up.

Can anyone advise me ?

01-02-2010, 01:36 PM

You can do it manually:

1. copy all your music files, pictures, etc. to en external drive and then copy them to the mac and then import them into itunes

2. export all the playlists from old itunes as an xml file and then copy that file to the mac and import the playlists into itunes

Or you can purchase online something like TouchCopy (iirc it's about $10.00 or so) and just copy everything including the playlists from the iphone to the mac without having to use the pc for anything.

01-02-2010, 02:32 PM

I was hoping there would be an easier way to do it than manually . Ill have to look at the software you suggested
thanks

01-03-2010, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by thunderoad02

I was hoping there would be an easier way to do it than manually . Ill have to look at the software you suggested
thanks

Please post whatever you find out as I'm interested in this topic too. Thinking of switching to Mac soon and I have an iPhone attached to my PC. Sounds like the manual way would be better if you plan to stop using your PC that way your Mac has all your files and can easily access them.

01-03-2010, 08:30 PM

I did this recently and this is how I did it. Not sure about you but playlists, play counts, ratings, and artwork are important to me and this method preserves the entire library perfectly. I now have identical libraries on both mac and pc and can synch to whichever I please.

To start with you may have to consolidate your library if your files are in more than one folder as was the case with me. File/Library/organize library/consolidate.

Next copy your folder that all your files in to an external drive. You will also need to find the folder called library.xml and copy that folder to the drive as well. This folder has 2 files that are important. The library.itl file and the library.xml file.

Now copy all your itunes music folders to the default location for music on the mac which is username/music/itunes. And copy the library.xml folder to username/music.

Now open itunes and immediately press the option key. This will give you the option to select a library. Point it to the library.itl file in the library.xml folder. If all goes well your itunes library on your mac should mirror the one that is on your pc and you can then sync your iphone to it.

Now that I have done this I make sure that when I add music to one library I do the same to the other to keep them identical. I only do this because my desktop pc will always be my primary computer and my macbook is just something I bought to see what the world of macs is all about.

Hope this helps you out.

Nick