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converting OLD itunes library to imusic/iphone xs max

So, my main music source has been an iPod Classic combined with an OLD MacBook (pre-Yosemite OS). I know, I know, fire away. I blame Apple for the other devices they created that did what I needed, so the MacBook was neglected. Anyway, it’s a sizable collection, no downloads. I recently got a new XS Max, and sprang for the max memory, as I thought it’d be handy to only drag the phone around most of the time. My question is: is there a way to move my library to the new phone? Right now iTunes isn’t happy when I try, I’m not sure if iCloud would work, but that seems the closest answer I’ve found thus far. I’m probably missing a lot, so educate me! Thanks in advance!

iPhone XS Max, iOS 13

Posted on Oct 29, 2019 10:13 AM

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Posted on Oct 29, 2019 2:24 PM

Your iPhone cannot play music from iCloud drive. The only way to get it into the cloud in way that you can stream it or download it to the device is by using iCloud Music Library which is a feature of iTunes Match or Apple Music.


tt2

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5 replies

Oct 29, 2019 12:28 PM in response to Biff_Henderson666

What version of iTunes is running on what version of OS X? What is the description of your hardware? To sync with iOS 13 you probably need iTunes 12.8.2.3 running on El Capitan or better. See How to upgrade to OS X El Capitan - Apple Support to find out if that is possible. Otherwise a workaround involving iTunes Match or Apple Music might be feasible. See Recover media from an iPod - Apple Community to gather all of your media into a single library you can either sync to your device or match/upload to the cloud.


tt2

Oct 29, 2019 1:17 PM in response to turingtest2

Hey tt2, thanks for the response! Currently the MacBook is running OS X 10.9.5, which may be one version short of El Capitan, but I’ll double check. Seems my big issue there was finding El Capitan somewhere to download. The current version of iTunes is 12.6.2.20, I had tried downloading a later iTunes (I think the one you mentioned), which is what set this all off I guess. I hadn’t thought about iTunes Match, or working it through Apple Music, I’ll look more closely at those, and the iPod recovery link you referenced.


Very helpful, again thanks!

Oct 29, 2019 2:20 PM in response to Biff_Henderson666

Hey again tt2, would it be easier to just send all of my music up to iCloud and then download it all to my phone (I.e., create a hard copy to phone). I couldn’t really find anything that clearly said you could download *from* iCloud, but I may have overlooked something.


if it helps, ultimately I’m trying to get my library onto the phone so I can listen without internet, WiFi, etc... Basically use the phone as an iPod.


thanks!

converting OLD itunes library to imusic/iphone xs max

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