Gmail / Mac Mail / iPhone sync question

I'm having a hard time thinking this through...

Question: is it possible to:

- have Gmail and Mac Mail sync (I think "yes" using IMAP, right?)
AND
- have new mail delivered to the iPhone, but NOT have ALL the mail sync to the iPhone.

I guess what I'm saying, is that I have a ton of old email that I save and I don't want all that old email stored on my iPhone. I just want new email on the iPhone and even if I delete it on the iPhone, I still want it on the Gmail and Mac mail.

If I delete it from the Mac Mail or Gmail, that's OK - I want it gone for good in that case.

My way of thinking is that the iPhone could just check it using POP and the other two use IMAP to sync. Not sure if that's possible.

Thanks!

when you access your Gmail from your iPhone, its actually the same thing as accessing it from your computer., it does not "store" email on your iPhone

im not sure about mac mail as i dont use it

Yes, you can do what you want.

I have my domain e-mail (POP), Gmail (POP/IMAP) and MobileMe (IMAP) on my Mac(s) at home and my iPhone. For my Domain and GMail, the only place that mail gets permanently deleted from the server is my Desktop (or Web mail for my domain/GMail). My Laptop and iPhone will retrieve mail (Unless my desktop gets to it first, assuming it's open) and display it to me. If I delete my domain or Gmail, they will still be downloaded to my desktop, which will the automatically delete the messages from the server.

The key is to set all your Mail up on your computer at home, and set Gmail up as POP not IMAP. Then sync the mail accounts to your iPhone via iTunes. Gmail will switch to IMAP for retrieval on your iPhone but on your desktop it will stay as POP, thus allowing you to get the messages on one machine always. That probably makes no sense but I never lose Gmail messages even though the receive on the iPhone is IMAP (send on the iPhone is still SMTP). You can then set your desktop to delete mail as you desire (immediately etc). This has worked for me for some time and allows me to get my e-mail on my phone or laptop while on the road, but always still leave it on the server for final adjudication when I get home and download on my desktop.

MoblieMe is full on IMAP, and if you delete it on your iPhone (and empty the trash on your phones e-mail), it will be gone for good. It's the only one that doesn't work like you want.

I think that is correct. IMAP acts as though you are on the GMail Mail site. With the iPhone, you will have folders (the ones you created on GMail) . You may put your mail into those folders, and they will be there on iPhone and GMail. If you Trash any mail on your iPhone, it will delete on the server as well. Hope this helps.

I've been testing this today.... (thanks for the replies):

- I'm having gmail get our ISP mail
- Gmail now lets you send mail so it appears to come from our corporate ISP (GREAT!)
- I'm using IMAP to sync the Mac Mail and Gmail

So, this user can use MacMail or gmail however he sees fit. I mostly wanted to use Gmail for a "cloud" backup of our mail instead of backing up to our server.

So far, so good!

I think you found the answer. I had the same problem and found a little manual for a few bucks that helped ... www.syncmydomain.com. It saved me a lot of time, but I'm the kind of guy who needs pictures and that sort of thing to do something like this. Congrats!