Transferring iPhone photos and videos to your Mac can salve precious space on your mobile device. Plus, information technology'southward easier to edit and retouch when you lot've got a larger screen with a higher resolution, not to mention that native Mac tools allow yous to convert, resize, and organize your images in no time. In this commodity, nosotros'll cover the four quickest means to transfer your images over.

The best ways to transfer photos from an iPhone to a Mac

Because iPhone and Mac are parts of the Apple ecosystem, there are multiple means to connect them and motility content around. Some involve using a USB cable, others work wirelessly. These methods have proven the handiest in our experience:

  1. Sync photos to your Mac using Finder (macOS Catalina or afterwards)
  2. Move photos and other content with AnyTrans
  3. Import pictures to the Photos app
  4. Upload photos using ImageCapture
  5. AirDrop photos from iPhone to a Mac
  6. Transfer photos using iCloud

Let's talk about all these in more detail.


Before you transfer your iPhone pictures to the Mac

Although Macs have more than storage than iPhones, that storage is not space, so you might want to avert dumping thousands of unneeded pics onto your Mac. We're talking blurry party selfies, multiple shots of the same sunset, taken merely seconds apart, long-forgotten screenshots of long-forgotten conversations — those can add up to a few gigabytes.

So before you start the transfer, scan your iPhone pics with Gemini Photos: Gallery Cleaner. This app will find all the clutter you've accumulated over the years, such equally similar shots and blurry photos, and help you delete them in no fourth dimension.

Now that you've done that, hither are our elevation ways to transfer photos and videos.


How to import photos from an iPhone to a Mac with a USB cable

The most common means to transfer pictures from your iPhone to your Mac involve connecting your devices with a USB cable. But fifty-fifty then, you have options depending on which awarding you want to use. Below you'll read about four different apps that volition assistance yous sync your photos.

Move photos from iPhone to Mac using Finder

Starting with macOS Catalina (x.15) or later, you can sync your iPhone with a Mac using Finder. Follow these steps to sync photos from your iPhone to your Mac:

  1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cable.
  2. On the Mac, open a new Finder window.
  3. In the sidebar, under your Devices, click on your iPhone.
  4. At the tiptop of the window, click Photos.
  5. Check the "Sync Photos" box.
  6. Choose the app or folder that you want to sync from.
  7. Cull to sync all photos and albums or just selected albums.
  8. Click Utilize.

How to transfer photos from iPhone to computer with AnyTrans

iCloud and Photos are obvious choices for image transferring, merely they're not without flaws. If you want to transfer all content from your iPhone without having to wait forever, and back it up at the same fourth dimension, a third-political party utility like AnyTrans for iOS makes much more sense.

A combination of a fill-in tool and media downloader, AnyTrans helps you migrate content. Hither'south how you utilize it to motion photos and everything else from your iPhone:

  1. Launch AnyTrans and ensure both your devices are continued to the aforementioned network.
  2. Connect iPhone to your Mac's USB port.
  3. Allow AnyTrans admission to your photograph library.
  4. Go to Device Director > Export iPhone content to computer.

Your content volition travel instantly. What's more, information technology will sync to iCloud — so at that place'southward no need to worry your photos don't have a fill-in.


Import photos from an iPhone to a Mac using Photos

One of the quickest methods is to plug the Lightning-to-USB cable you use to charge the iPhone into one of your Mac's USB ports. When an iPhone is connected, the macOS Photos app automatically opens and suggests importing your photos. Here'south the import process, step past step.

  1. Connect your iPhone to the Mac using a Lightning-to-USB cablevision
  2. If needed, unlock your iPhone and confirm it trusts the device
  3. The Photos app should load and show you the images from your iPhone in the main window. If that doesn't happen, select your iPhone from the left-hand menu in the Photos app. Now you'll see all of the images and videos stored in your iPhone's Photographic camera Roll.
  4. Click Import All New Items in the elevation correct-hand corner, or become through the photos, select the ones you want to import, and click Import Selected

One time the import is consummate, you can enquire Photos to automatically delete the pics on your iPhone, giving you infinite to start again and accept fifty-fifty more pictures.


Upload photos from iPhone to Mac using Image Capture

Some other method for transferring your pictures from iPhone to Mac is with the Image Capture app, which comes by default with macOS. Follow these steps to import pics from your iPhone:

  1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cablevision.
  2. On your Mac, open up Paradigm Capture.
  3. In the sidebar, select your iPhone under the Devices category.
  4. At the bottom of the window, click the Import To menu to choose where to save your pictures.
  5. Select the pictures you desire to import and click the Import button or click Import All.

How to transfer photos from an iPhone to a Mac wirelessly

If y'all don't have a USB cable nearby, don't worry. You can still transport pics from your telephone wirelessly. And even if you have a cable close, you might want to try one of these methods to save yous the hassle of plugging your iPhone into your computer.

Send photos from iPhone to Mac using AirDrop

If you demand to motion just a few of your images over to your Mac, the quickest way to do that is past using AirDrop.

Get-go by switching AirDrop on your iPhone.

  1. Get to Settings
  2. Tap Full general
  3. Ringlet to AirDrop
  4. Gear up this to Everyone to send data via AirDrop to any device

Now switch it on on your Mac:

  1. Open up Finder
  2. Click Go in the menu bar and select AirDrop
  3. A Finder window will open, with the AirDrop icon at the bottom. It looks similar an old-fashioned set up of blue radio waves
  4. Below this icon is a dropdown. Click on it and select Everyone.

Give both devices a few moments to find one some other.

Now, here'due south how you transfer photos from your iPhone to your Mac with AirDrop:

  1. Open up Photos on your iPhone
  2. Select the pics y'all want to transfer
  3. Tap the sharing push in the lesser left-hand corner
  4. Wait till AirDrop finds your Mac and tap on it
  5. On your Mac you'll see a pop-upward window request you lot to have the photos. Click Take.

Depending on your Mac's settings, you may be asked where you desire to salve the photos. Once you're done transferring, you lot can switch off AirDrop on your Mac and iPhone.


Sync photos from an iPhone to a Mac using iCloud

Another way to move photos from an iPhone to a Mac is with iCloud. iCloud Photo Library, a.k.a. iCloud Photos, can practice all the heavy lifting. All the same, if you lot've got over 5GB of photos and videos, y'all'll need to upgrade your storage plan, paying annihilation from $0.99 per calendar month for 50GB to $9.99 for 2TB of cloud storage.

To set upward iCloud Photo Library on your iPhone, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Settings
  2. Tap on your name at the pinnacle

  3. Get to iCloud
  4. Underneath the iCloud storage indicator, y'all'll encounter a listing of Apps Using iCloud
  5. Tap on Photos
  6. Switch on iCloud Photos

At present, to set it up on your Mac:

  1. Launch the Photos app
  2. Go to the Photos bill of fare in the menu bar
  3. Click on Preferences
  4. Adjacent, click on iCloud
  5. Cheque the box side by side to iCloud Photo Library (iCloud Photos in macOS Mojave)

Provided you've followed both series of steps and both your devices are using the same Apple ID, your photos and videos volition automatically sync between iPhone and Mac.

Remember: while you have iCloud Photo Library on, whatever changes you make to photos on 1 device will automatically sync to the other. Then if you want to delete them on your iPhone and go on them on your Mac, switch off the sync after you've transferred everything.


Whichever method you apply, Apple makes information technology easy to transfer photos and videos from an iPhone to a Mac. Just make sure you motility the pics yous actually demand, otherwise you're just shuffling clutter around.