Difficulty in connecting my iPhone SE5 and MacBook air

snarked22 wrote:

Thanks -

I choose not to use the cloud - Inlike to keep my data on my equipment which I keep in my house…

I have transcribed an audio CD onto an mp3 file on the MacBook Air and wanted to copy it to my iPhone for use in my car. Similar file copying has been easy before now

File copying to an iPhone has not changed. It's always been done through iTunes, not the Finder by syncing. Bluetooth has never been involved in this.

As I said, you can copy files over Wi-fi if you have set that up, or over USB has always been done.

click here ➜ Use the Finder to sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with your Mac - Apple Support

First, your Mac and your iPhone don't "pair" via Bluetooth as such, not like you'd pair to a keyboard or earbuds. They use Bluetooth to identify each other for wireless connection, but then use Wi-Fi for the actual data transfer. Connecting via a cable shouldn't use or need Bluetooth at all. So if you're looking in the Bluetooth settings, that's not going to be useful.

If you're connecting via cable, just look in the Finder sidebar. If connected, your iPhone will show there.

This Apple article and the ones it references may be redundant for you but it might be worth reviewing just to see if you've missed a step or changed something inadvertently:

Intro to syncing your Mac and your devices - Apple Support (IN)

As to the pictures, either there actually is a connection via the cable, or your two devices are set up to use iCloud for your photos.

Regards.

Phil0124 wrote:

File copying to an iPhone has not changed. It's always been done through iTunes, not the Finder by syncing. Bluetooth has never been involved in this.

As I said, you can copy files over Wi-fi if you have set that up, or over USB has always been done.

click here ➜ Use the Finder to sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with your Mac - Apple Support

You're correct that Bluetooth has never been involved. But ever since the release of Catalina (which broke up the functions of the iTunes application), the Finder has been involved in manual syncing (over a USB cable or Wi-Fi).

Macs and iPhone cannot pair over bluetooth , never have been able to do this. It's not supported nor required.

What are you trying to accomplish by doing this?

If you set up syncing over Wi-Fi then the iPhone can appear in Finder on the Mac wirelessly and you can sync content such as pictures to and from it. This has nothing to do with bluetooth pairing whatsoever.

click here ➜ Sync content between your Mac and iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch over Wi-Fi - Apple Support

Try checking your network and your cable.

Servant of Cats wrote:

Phil0124 wrote:

File copying to an iPhone has not changed. It's always been done through iTunes, not the Finder by syncing. Bluetooth has never been involved in this.

As I said, you can copy files over Wi-fi if you have set that up, or over USB has always been done.

click here ➜ Use the Finder to sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with your Mac - Apple Support

You're correct that Bluetooth has never been involved. But ever since the release of Catalina (which broke up the functions of the iTunes application), the Finder has been involved in manual syncing (over a USB cable or Wi-Fi).

You are correct. That "Not" should be "Now". As in: "It's always been done through iTunes, Now the Finder...".