Syncing Music Library on iPhone 12 to Mac M1 with out destroying Music Library on iPhone

I should know this but can't find it in my notes.


How do you go about syncing a Music Library on a iPhone 12 that isn't on WiFi to a M1 that isn't on Wi-Fi. The M1 is hardwired to a modem/router and not destroy the Music Library on the iPhone 12? The iPhone is hardwired to the M1.

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 26.6

Posted on Aug 19, 2026 1:33 PM

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Posted on Aug 19, 2026 2:56 PM

It's never been possible to sync music from iPhone to Mac (it's always been Mac to iPhone) without a third party app like iMazing, unless you're an Apple Music subscriber in which case turning on sync library will sync both ways (although you might need wifi for that).

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Aug 19, 2026 2:56 PM in response to AlWeir

It's never been possible to sync music from iPhone to Mac (it's always been Mac to iPhone) without a third party app like iMazing, unless you're an Apple Music subscriber in which case turning on sync library will sync both ways (although you might need wifi for that).

Aug 20, 2026 3:37 AM in response to AlWeir

You don't.


Traditional "manual" synchronization is set up to work in one direction: From a Mac or Windows PC, to an iPhone, iPad, or iPod.

  • No copying from one portable device (iPhone, iPad, iPod) to another.
  • No copying from a portable device (iPhone, iPad, iPod) to a computer - with an old exception (which might no longer exist) for music purchased from the iTunes Store on the portable device. (These days, I think that you would redownload the purchase on the computer rather than a synchronization transferring it.)
  • A portable device can only be synchronized against one computer library at a time. Synchronizing against a second library will always delete all of the music loaded onto the device from the first library.

Aug 19, 2026 3:05 PM in response to picas

There might be a few songs from Apple Music in the Library but most of what I have have been converted from Youtube and run through a app and installed on Apple Music. I guess Apple didn't think of everything. I guess I'll have to use Wifi on both the iPhone and Mac since I don't use iMazing. Thanks for the reply.

Syncing Music Library on iPhone 12 to Mac M1 with out destroying Music Library on iPhone

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