Windows handles an Iphone better than the Mac??

Well I wills till be using my Windows laptops, but bought a fully loaded Mac mini and here is my first "issue":
And I am sure that I am not the first to mention (complain) about this but the Iphone doesn't mount as a hard drive on the mac? Really? Maybe I am missing something but when plugged it in the Photos app appears- and it is totally NOT intuitive but thats it. In Itunes I can "manage" my music but that is done in Itunes in Windows anyway so nothing new there. I had to buy a 3rd part app- "Iexplore" to view content from my phone like it is a drive. Its not the greatest either but is better than just seeing the Iphone pictures through Photos. On my Windows laptops, the Iphone is just another drive, it automatically shows in my explorer and can drag and drop pretty much anything I want on the phone or to my other hard drives- the way it should be. Unbelievable? Or is it just me.

Also how do I keep videos and such on my phone AND in Icloud. When I go to show a video to a client I have to wait, sometimes endlessly depending on the connection, for the video to stream from the Icloud to my phone. I guess there is a 3rd party app to manage this?

I was under the impression since Apple owns the entire ecosystem that the symbiotic relationship between all Mac devices would be a plug and play affair and well honed by now, 2016. Apparently not unless I need to go make an appointment and have them straighten me out.

Can any of you enlighten me on these matters as I am an Apple noob. Have had the Iphone for years but my first foray into the Mac OS

Thank you

It is hard to switch to Mac and expect it to work like Windows, it's not going to happen. You can learn to use the Mac, but only if you want to make the time. Yes, setting up times and making Genius Bar appointments will help. When you learn the system, you will wonder why you wasted so much time using Windows, in my opinion. Just remember, you took your time learning the way Windows wants you to do it, now you are going to try to learn a completely new way of doing it, and it will not be quick, but I believe, it is a better way.

Please don't be offended by any of my comments below. I do want to help...but just answering bluntly to what was mentioned.

Z4MC said:

And I am sure that I am not the first to mention (complain) about this but the Iphone doesn't mount as a hard drive on the mac? Really? Maybe I am missing something but when plugged it in the Photos app appears- and it is totally NOT intuitive but thats it.

Click to expand...

Sorry...it does not work this way. An iPhone is not an external drive. You're supposed to "sync" your iPhone with your Mac...not treat the phone as a external HD.

Z4MC said:

Unbelievable? Or is it just me.

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Sorry...it's just you! Or more specifically...something folks switching from Windows to a Mac (or using a Mac for the first time) experience. Some things can be different.

Z4MC said:

Can any of you enlighten me on these matters as I am an Apple noob. Have had the Iphone for years but my first foray into the Mac OS

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What I mentioned above. And the main issue is you want your Mac & iPhone to act the same way as your Windows computer and iPhone. Or more specifically...you want your Mac to act like your Windows computer. They are different in some ways.

What you're running up against is change. And sometimes change is difficult. Things worked one way on your Windows computer...they work differently on your Mac...but you want the experience to be the same. Some things are the same or similar...and some things are different. Just the "nature of the beast". Be patient during the learning curve.

- Nick

p.s. You've been a Mac-Forums member since 2008. If this is your first Mac (Mac-Mini)...what have you "Appling" all these years?

Sorry, but on this one I agree completely with the original poster. Why can't an iphone be like an external drive to a Mac? I do realize that Macs and Windows machines are two different animals, but on this one issue I believe Windows is better. Don't get me wrong, and I intend no insult, I love my iMac and for the most part find it much better than any Windows machine I have ever had. However, there are some things about Apple products that really irk me. The iPhone to Mac is one of them. I had to give up my old iPhone and get a new one with no overlap between the two. I tried for a day to get my contacts onto my Mac so that I could put them on the new iPhone. I started a thread here and tried every suggestion that was given to me with no success. To me it should have been as simple as plugging in the phone and dragging and dropping the contacts folder. I ended up copying them all out by hand from the old phone and manually inputting them into the new phone.
I realize that change is a constant in our world today, but very often it is change for the sake of change and does not provide any improvement.
Regards
Dan

Like Nick said above, an iPhone is not a hard drive and is designed to be synced. And, if you're using iTunes in Windows, an iPhone will act the exact same way as it does on a Mac. There are many Windows users who likewise own an iPhone or iPad and seem to get along just fine doing it that way. Why do you need to use your iPhone like a hard drive anyway?

I remember your thread about the contacts but don't off hand remember why you couldn't seem to get them from the phone to your Mac. I believe we suggested using the iMazing app? Anyway, that's over with.

Part of the reason iPhones don't show up as a drive is because they are not. The Camera Roll shows up, but that's about it. There are multiple methods for transferring the contents of the Camera Roll to a Mac. There is no need to treat it as an external drive. In fact, Windows doesn't treat it as an external drive. It treats it as a camera with external storage.

iPhones are not file based. There is no central file system to be seen. When you open a file in a new app, example a PDF downloaded in Safari opened in iBooks, you are not viewing the original file. You are making a copy of it in iBooks' address space.

When you switch from one iPhone to another, the simplest way to do it is to make a backup of the old one in iTunes and then set up the new one from the backup. This method copies not only your contacts etc, but any settings you had on the old one, so you don't need to dig through the Settings app to customize your new phone. Sorry I missed your post @danno50. I've been giving that advice for over 5 years now. You can also use a backup of an iPad or iPod to set up an iPhone.

One thing you can't do, which bothers a lot of people, is use a backup to return to an older operating system, so don't believe anyone who tells you that you can.

At present, there are many users coming over from Android in the wake of the Note 7 debacle. They find the iPhone strange and quirky, but after a couple of weeks they seem to settle down with the way it gets things done.

ferrarr said:

It is hard to switch to Mac and expect it to work like Windows, it's not going to happen. You can learn to use the Mac, but only if you want to make the time. Yes, setting up times and making Genius Bar appointments will help. When you learn the system, you will wonder why you wasted so much time using Windows, in my opinion. Just remember, you took your time learning the way Windows wants you to do it, now you are going to try to learn a completely new way of doing it, and it will not be quick, but I believe, it is a better way.

Click to expand...

Its not necessarily that the Mac is Different- they OWN the ecosystem and I was just imagining a much more integrated experience.

I do understand that the Iphone is not an external "drive" per se. And I dont expect to go in there and root out files- but the simple things like Managing Photos and Videos is simply much more easier and you get more control from a Windows machine than from the Mac- and this just shouldn't be so. In Windows the Iphone shows up in the drive list and you can drill in for all photos, videos at the very least- drag, drop, copy, paste do whatever you want into any folder destination you want. The Mac "forces" you to Photos and you dont get anywhere the flexibility as with Windows. And Widnows has 3rd party apps to capture Messages.
Also the Icloud really mucks things up for storage- I guess I need to now figure out the differences between the Photostream and the Icloud photo storage- the answer may lie there but I know have a 256gig Iphone to store LOCALLY the movies and photos that I need for work. I guess after all this time, I just figured that Apple had all of this figured out as far as Ipad/Iphone/Mac is concerned. I joined in 2008 and bought an G5 tower back then but back then dfidnt have time to actually use it so I sold it. I will not be selling my new Imac anytime soon- i am pretty sure I will find the workarounds I need and will use it for a long time.

Z4MC said:

Its not necessarily that the Mac is Different- they OWN the ecosystem and I was just imagining a much more integrated experience.

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It is exactly that Macs are different. The two devices work seamlessly for me. It is because you still want the "Windows" experience that you are experiencing these so called issues.

danno50 said:

Why can't an iphone be like an external drive to a Mac?

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It's not that it's not possible for an iPhone to work similarly to the way it does with a Windows computer...it just doesn't because Apple didn't want it to act that way. Just a difference.

If Mac's did everything the exact same way as things work on Windows computers...then they wouldn't be Mac's...they'd just be another Windows PC!

It really comes down to what a person is used to.

- Nick

In principle I agree with you- however the reason I buy the Iphone is that they are more reliable and predictable than Android phones since Apple owns the entire channel- design/hardware/software/tech support- though that gap is closing with the pixel camera.
And its not that I "want the Windows Experience" Both OS's have there goods and bads and different ways of doing things- But my company writes software, my son codes UX for GoPro, I am quite familiar with UI/UX and I can tell you that Apple can and should make this a much more seamless operation...actual "plug and Play " with more management tools for your Iwhatever. And thereby solidifying Apple as the ONLY choice to go to for the ultimate, seamless "Internet of YOUR Tech things" - Microsoft and Google need not Apply- Apple will have control of the entire ecosystem- they do now- it just can always be better.

The beauty of Apple devices is that they sync what you want through iCloud without plugging anything into anything else, no faffing with cables. All it takes is a few swipes in Settings. I came to all-Apple gradually over the last five years: MBP alongside android phone and Kindle; android phone and Blackberry tablet (what a mistake that was!); android phone and Samsung tablet; iPhone and Samsung tablet then finally the full suite of iPhone, iPad mini and MBP.

I love the way I do a calendar entry on the MPB and it appears on the other two; from my bed I download Leonard Cohen's latest masterpiece on my iPad and whoomph, I can listen to it on everything; my camera photos and videos replicate in PhotoStream across the board; my shopping list is on my phone for going out, etc, etc.

Z4MC said:

Also how do I keep videos and such on my phone AND in Icloud. When I go to show a video to a client I have to wait, sometimes endlessly depending on the connection, for the video to stream from the Icloud to my phone. I guess there is a 3rd party app to manage this?

Click to expand...

PhotoStream does all that for you, no need to access iCloud every time. Settings > iCloud > Photos - switch on PhotoStream. Same settings on Mac mini. You can drag photos/videos into albums you create on your phone.

^ Thank you!!