All Pro Tips about iPhone

by Fiona on March. 20, 2017 | NO COMMENT

How to Import Photos from iPhone to Mac (macOS Sierra)

As your iPhone photo library grows, there always be a time for you to consider importing photos from iPhone to Mac computer as backup. Read on this tutorial to find the best iPhone photos to Mac importing solutions.

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With the shiny jet black iPhone 7/7 Plus coming to us with its new features: 12-megapixel lens, dual cameras, water resistance etc., many of you may have already replaced your old iPhone or Android phone with the new iPhone. However, whether if you’re still worried about the space shortage of storing photos (Live Photos), videos and movies on your 32GB iPhone 7? The most widely used and safe way to keep the photos/videos/movies on your iPhone is to transfer them to your Mac (macOS Sierra included).

Carelessly deleted some photos from your iPhone 7 and want to recover them? Primo iPhone Data Recovery is a new way to get back deleted pictures from iPhone even without backup.

On our previous guide, we’ve shown you How to transfer photos from iPhone to PC Windows, and here we continue to tell you how to import pictures from iPhone to Mac (macOS Sierra) without hassles.

Table of Content:

Part 1: How to Import Photos from iPhone to Mac | Photos

Photos app for OS X is available now on OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 and later, which replaces the old iPhoto and Aperture with a simpler photo editor and library manager. Here is how to import photos from your iPhone to Mac Yosemite or El Capitan with Photos app.

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to Mac, and open Photos app.

Step 2. Click on Import, you can click Import All New Items or manually select multiple photos, and then click Import XX Selected.

Step 3. Then the newly imported photos will show in an album named "Last Import". You can also find the photos in the All Photos album.

How to Import Photos from iPhone to Mac with Photos

How to Import Photos from iPhone to Mac with Photos

Part 2: How to Sync Photos from iPhone to Mac | iCloud Photo Library

With iCloud Photo Library, your iPhone photos will automatically sync to the iCloud and should appear on your Photos app as long as you enable this feature on both your iPhone and Mac.

Step 1. On your iPhone: Settings > iCloud > Photos > Turn on iCloud Photo Library.

Step 2. On your Mac: Open Preference > iCloud > Sign in with your Apple ID > Check Photos > Click Options next Photos > Enable iCloud Photo Library > Done.

Step 3. Now you can access photos synced with your iPhone on the Mac Photos app or by logging into icloud.com.

Import Photos from iPhone to Mac with iCloud Photo Library

Import Photos from iPhone to Mac with iCloud Photo Library

Your iCloud account will get more crowded when you enable iCloud Photo Library feature for it counts on the 5GB free space. You may need to buy more iCloud storage, and prices start at $0.99 per month for 50GB of storage, and range to $9.99 per month for a full terabyte.

Part 3. How to Sync Photos from iPhone to Mac | AirDrop

To import only a few pictures from iPhone to Mac, AirDrop is a nice choice. You need to have iOS 8 or later on your iPhone and the Mac needs to be running OS X Yosemite or later.

Step 1. On your Mac: Open Finder > Click on AirDrop > Click on Turn on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to enable AirDrop. Remember to set your Mac to be discovered by Contacts or Everyone.

Step 2. On your iPhone: Swipe up to open the Control Center > Tap on AirDrop > Choose from Contacts Only or Everyone as you need.

Step 3. Go to the Photos app on your iPhone > Select a photo > tap the Share button > Your Mac's name should appear > tap on it.

Step 4. On your Mac, you will see a pop-up window, click on Save.

Import Photos from iPhone to Mac via AriDrop

Import Photos from iPhone to Mac via AriDrop

Part 4: Transfer Photos from iPhone to Mac | PrimoPhoto

Want a more flexible method on importing iPhone photos to Mac? To bring you more convenience on photo management is what PrimoPhoto designed for. It's easy & quick to import photos from Camera Roll, Photo Library or Albums from your iPhone to Mac (Yosemite & El Capitan included). It's all your choice to import ALL or SELECTED photos from iPhone to Mac.

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Step 1. Open PrimoPhoto, and connect your iPhone to Mac.

Step 2. In the Export to Mac section, select the photos in Camera Roll or Photo Library, or Albums.

Step 3. Set the destination on your Mac, and click the Export button.

How to Import Photos from iPhone to Mac with PrimoPhoto

Transfer Photos from iPhone to iPad Using PrimoPhoto

Part 5: Best iPhone to Mac Comparison Table

1. Photos 2. iCloud Photo Library 3. AirDrop 4. PrimoPhoto
Camera Roll
Photo Stream -- --
Photo Library -- Conflict with iTunes Synced Photos --
Single Album -- --
Requirements OS X 10.10.3 & Later iOS 8.3 & Later OS X Yosemite & iOS 8 All
Time Needed 3 Mins Depends on WLAN Depends on WLAN 2 Mins

It is quite obvious that PrimoPhoto is simpler & more comprehensive on managing iPhone photos compared to the methods we mentioned. Now start taking a tour with PrimoPhoto >

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Fiona Wang Member of @PrimoSync team as well as an Apple fan, love to help more users solve various types of Apple related issues by writing iOS-how-to tutorials.

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