iPhone keeps downloading old mail - AOL and Gmail

Well since it stores them on the server, if you checked it on the iPhone then checked it on your macbook it would show up on there.

If the issue with AOL is it uses Imap and when you make a change such as read a message or move it to a different folder it makes that change on the server. And I don't believe there is a way to mark it or keep it as unread on the iPhone.

The problem is the messages are on the mail server so whenever you go to check mail on the iPhone it is going to redownload them. The only way to get rid of them from downloading again would be to remove them from the server.

Usually the easiest way to do that is to go the Webmail(like gmail.com) and delete them from there.

You CAN easily tap on Mark as Unread on the iPhone, just be aware that it will also show as Unread on your Mac as well, and vice versa. That got added to the iPhone OS in an update long ago. And anyone who is still allowing AOL to move emails is doing things the very old way, and ought to have switched away from Old/New Mail to a unified Inbox. I don't see that checkbox in Settings anymore, but in an AOL program you can go to Keyword: Inbox, and then click the button Switch to Inbox, then Quit and restart AOL. Or else on the web, sign in and go to:

http://inbox.aol.com/mail/changeMailboxStyle?style=self