What the update be to my mac

gmacoocoo Said:

"What the update be to my Mac: I am trying to get pictures from my iPhone 10 to my MacBook Pro. When I connect with the USB it says my Mac needs to be updated before I can load them. What will the update be? I have Mojave Operating system and can not allow it to update to Catalina. Some of my programs will not work with Catalina."

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A Couple of Thoughts:

How Many Photos?

A. If Thousands, Use a Time Machine Backup:

1. Backup: the Mac *
2. Upgrade: to Catalina
3. Import: these Photos
4. Restore: to the Backup Created in Step One

* IMPORTANT: Backup First:

Prior to the re-installation of your macOS, be certain to Create a backup of your Mac using a Time Machine Backup. That way, you can have something to Restore your Mac from, should anything go wrong with the restore. Use an external hard drive that is at least 1.5 the total storage capacity.

Or...

B. If a Few, Transfer Using iCloud Photos:

Go Here: Set up and use iCloud Photos

Note that a photo is typically 2-4MB - you have 2GB free for iCloud Storage. So, 900 or so photos would be fine, but would be time consuming. So, using the Time Machine Backup (Method One), would be logistical, in that case.

I had the same thing show up when I tried to back up iPads just upgraded to iOS 13. The download offered will not upgrade you to Catalina. It is a small and fast download. I have now applied i with both my MacBook Pro running 10.13 and my iMac running 10.14 with no ill effects.

Once you have done that, you can use iTunes to backup and update your phone just like before.

Hi, welcome to the Apple Users Community.

Mojave OS is for your MacBook, iOS is your iPhones operating system and must be updated on the phone, it will warn you of this in settings.

1. Have you tried to Airdrop one of the images to your MacBook instead of USB connection?
2. Are you trying to transfer using Photos App? It may be that the pictures taken on your iPhone are in HEIC format and the MacBook will not be able to view them properly. They may need to be converted to JPG.
3. Have you opened iCloud on your MacBook and looked to see if they are already available on your MacBook in the cloud?
4. Do you use Photostream?

There is no necessity to update to Catalina, as there are many options of transferring files between devices.

Best of luck

I assume you got the 'A software update .... ' message as described here https://macreports.com/software-update-is-required-to-connect-to-your-ios-device-installation-failed-fix/ Once yous do that update you should be able to connect with you iPhone agin without the need to upgrade to Catalina

I know. But it looked like with the thread was going a little off piste and might confuse the guy hence my reiterating your point. As you say a small update that fixes the problem and then he can then go back to syncing his iPhone in the same way as he was before

I'll say it once again: I have done that download on two Macs and they are still running the Mac OS versions they had before the update.

The only thing that changes is that you will now be able to use iTunes to mange your iOS device just like before.

gmacoocoo Said:

"As I stated earlier I do not want to upgrade to Catalina. Some of my programs are not compatible with that operating system."

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Get these Photos Back:

It is a method to troubleshoot it, so you can get these photos back. Upgrade - compatibility seems to be what is getting in the way here. So., you would upgrade - get them back, then restore from a backup, so things are back to how they are now.

Just like I said.

If you follow the advice given by both Allan Jones and myself you don't need to upgrade to Catalina

Understood. 👍🏼

There is absolutely no need to make this complicated. The advice given by both Allan Jones and myself is the simplest method of achieving what gmacoocoo wants to do.