HT203106: Use AirDrop to send content from your Mac

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stevegoldfield
Level 1 (5 points)

Q: Unable to connect iPhone 6 plus (IOS 9) to MacBook Pro (El Capitan)

Since I bought my iPhone 6 plus and my MacBook Pro this year, I have never been able to connect them

wirelessly with Airport. I can only connect them with a cable. This week, I upgraded from IOS 8.4 to IOS 9

and from Yosemite to El Capitan. So, I tried again. Each device can see the other as before, but I can't even

get them to try to connect now. Before, I tried to pair but that failed. Now, on the Mac, it says Not Connected.

When I try to connect, there's a bluetooth message that says the network is unavailable. As far as I know, I

have networks on with both devices. When I try to connect from the iPhone, it says Connection Unsuccessful

and Make sure the MacBook is on and in range, which, of course, it is. This is very frustrating. Why can't two

new Apple devices connect with each other?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013), Yosemite 10.2.2

Posted on Oct 1, 2015 12:59 PM

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stevegoldfield

Q: Unable to connect iPhone 6 plus (IOS 9) to MacBook Pro (El Capitan)

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Oct 1, 2015 4:29 PM in response to stevegoldfield
    Level 10 (104,879 points)
    Wireless
    Oct 1, 2015 4:29 PM in response to stevegoldfield

    You posted your question in the support forum for the Apple wireless routers.........the products pictured below.

    These Products.png

    I have asked the forum moderators to move your post to the iPhone support community.

  • by Lyssa,

    Lyssa Lyssa Oct 1, 2015 5:51 PM in response to stevegoldfield
    Level 6 (17,892 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 5:51 PM in response to stevegoldfield

    You say you're trying to connect them to each other...for what purpose? What you want to do may not be possible. For example, connecting an iPhone & Mac via Bluetooth will only work for internet tethering.

     

    ~Lyssa

  • by stevegoldfield,

    stevegoldfield stevegoldfield Oct 1, 2015 6:07 PM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 6:07 PM in response to Bob Timmons

    I opened it in the Airport section, which made me choose one of those products. The options were very bizarre.

  • by stevegoldfield,

    stevegoldfield stevegoldfield Oct 1, 2015 6:17 PM in response to Lyssa
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 6:17 PM in response to Lyssa

    I take photos on my iPhone and want to transfer them to my MacBook Pro. That's a normal thing to want to do, and it would be possible if Apple hadn't made it impossible to do wirelessly. Apple's literature says that it is possible to use AirDrop (which uses Bluetooth) to exchange files between an iPhone and a MacBook. The problem is that it doesn't work. I think I typed Airport when opening this issue, but I should have typed AirDrop.

  • by Lyssa,

    Lyssa Lyssa Oct 2, 2015 4:08 AM in response to stevegoldfield
    Level 6 (17,892 points)
    Oct 2, 2015 4:08 AM in response to stevegoldfield

    My understanding is they don't really connect with one another like you would expect them to. They just need to be in close enough proximity & on the same wireless network. There's no pairing involved at all.

     

    There are some troubleshooting tips at the bottom of this article that may help.

     

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203106

     

    ~Lyssa

  • by stevegoldfield,

    stevegoldfield stevegoldfield Oct 2, 2015 8:43 AM in response to Lyssa
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 2, 2015 8:43 AM in response to Lyssa

    Nope. I've tried all that. So have many other people. A few say they have been able to connect the devices with AirDrop. Most have the same experience that I have. It doesn't work. Apple keeps releasing new software for IOS and OSX, but they don't fix this problem.

  • by Filipina8317,

    Filipina8317 Filipina8317 Aug 20, 2016 10:41 AM in response to stevegoldfield
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 20, 2016 10:41 AM in response to stevegoldfield

    Hi There!

     

    I also tried to connect my iPhone 6 to my Macbook Air 2013 OS X El Captian the same way you were trying to do it (Via Bluetooth) and your correct, it will not work. Apple actually streamlined the process for apple users (and so they could have their own "brand" of bluetooth that they call "AirDrop")

     

    Here's how I transfer pictures & documents between my iPhone 6 and my mac (this is also useful to send to items to other iPhones)

    More information on Airdrop for Mac can be found here https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203106

     

    On your Mac go to "Finder" and locate "Air Drop":

     

    Screen Shot 2016-08-20 at 1.25.24 PM.pngScreen Shot 2016-08-20 at 1.28.24 PM.png

     

    At the bottom you will see in Allow me to be discovered by: Contacts but you can use the arrow to open a drop box to change it to EVERYONE (contacts didn't work for me since I wasn't set up a a contact in my own phone)



    Then follow these steps to turn on Air Drop on your phone:


    Screen Shot 2016-08-20 at 1.30.13 PM.png

     

    Once you see your iPhone pop up on the screen, you simply select, drag and drop the items you want to share directly over the contacts circle:

     

    Screen Shot 2016-08-20 at 1.34.45 PM.png

    You'll then receive an alert on your iPhone asking if you want to accept the files and where you want to view/save them i.e. iBooks, Google drive (if you have it), etc. then your DONE!

     

     

    Hope this helps! Good luck