Transferring iPhone information from PC to Mac

So I plan to start using my Macbook Pro full time and want to ditch the PC I've always synced and backed up with. I've heard fifteen ways to transfer one's mail and contacts and notes and pictures and ... but I can't be sure which is right or if any are wrong anyways. I'd really rather not have all my work and what not disappear when I move to the next station, the Mac.

Some ways people said about going about doing this:

-turn on Mac and open iTunes, hit "authenticate" in one of the menus and then sign in the apple ID and password, get all information off computer/iPhone needed, hook up to Mac again and sync.

-just flat out plug iPhone into Mac and hit sync (pretty sure this just erases all).

-open Mac and disable automatic sync, then plug in iPhone and choose a "merge/transfer" button on the dialogue box that opens.

-transfer iTunes to the Mac first, then sync with iPhone USB cable in Mac.

The last one is the one I am most confident about following although I don't know how to exactly transfer iTunes. The descriptions leave it hanging there and iTunes is pretty large I'd suspect. Is this done through a data USB stick? I only really care about keeping mail, contacts, notes, pictures, and music - if that helps any.

Thanks for any help. I know it sounds like a redundant question.