Warning to transfer purchased items from iPhone to Mac, even though all data had been backed up to Mac

Question

Warning to transfer purchased items from iPhone to Mac, even though all data had been backed up to Mac

I am trying to follow this process:

Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with the Finder - Apple Support

However, I get this warning when I click Update:

There are purchased items on the iPhone that have not been transferred to your Mac. You should transfer these items to your Mac before updating this iPhone.

Nice warning, except I had backed up all of the data on the iPhone to my Mac just minutes earlier. Maybe I should report this to Apple as a bug.

Here is a very similar thread from four years ago:

Updating iOS using Mac: Message about "pu… - Apple Community

The "Community Specialist" who answered that question said, "you should try backup the device first," so that answer was not helpful.

Earlier iPhone models

Posted on Apr 14, 2024 7:33 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

David Criswell Author

Level 1

6 points

May 28, 2024 7:44 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Ok, here's the closure on this issue. You and 6x6 are correct that backing up data does not sync purchased items.

However, the warning that started this thread,

There are purchased items on the iPhone that have not been transferred to your Mac. You should transfer these items to your Mac before updating this iPhone.

was still incorrect – because there were no purchased items on the iPhone.

I did a sync, and it reported that zero purchased items had been transferred to the Mac (which makes sense, because there were no purchased items on the iPhone).

After the sync that transferred nothing, I stopped receiving the incorrect warning. So the sync that transferred nothing did have one benefit.

This is bad software engineering, and a company with a $2.9 trillion market cap could certainly devote more resources to eliminating annoyances like this.

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Answer 2

6x6

Level 7

24,251 points

Apr 14, 2024 10:22 AM in response to David Criswell

I wonder if it isn’t a synchronization issue.

A backup of the iPhone won’t transfer your purchases to the Mac, only a synchronization will. Make sure your iPhone settings in Finder are set to automatically synchronize the devices or you could do a manual sync. For more informations: Use the Finder to sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with your Mac - Apple Support.

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Answer 3

Apr 14, 2024 11:14 AM in response to David Criswell

a BACKUP to your Mac stores essential items from your iPhone into an impenetrable BLOB on your Mac. A BACKUP is great to have in case you iPhone gets run over by a truck.

A BACKUP does NOT synchronize your purchased Music, Movies, Photos, and similar items to your Mac. As 6x6 points out, only a SYNC can do that job for you, If desired.

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Answer 4

leroydouglas

Level 10

205,912 points

Apr 14, 2024 8:59 AM in response to David Criswell

David Criswell wrote:

I am trying to follow this process:

Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with the Finder - Apple Support

However, I get this warning when I click Update:

There are purchased items on the iPhone that have not been transferred to your Mac. You should transfer these items to your Mac before updating this iPhone.

Nice warning, except I had backed up all of the data on the iPhone to my Mac just minutes earlier. Maybe I should report this to Apple as a bug.

you can file a bug report /submit your Apple Feedback here: Product Feedback - Apple

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Warning to transfer purchased items from iPhone to Mac, even though all data had been backed up to Mac

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