Macbook synching with iphone

Some questions and answers may be in order, before any suggestions could be made.

What is the iOS of the iPhone now?

What is the OS X in the MacBook now?

If the OS X in the MacBook is too old to sync with the iPhone, there may be an issue.

Compatibility between these two systems usually matters, for them to work properly.

Perhaps someone will offer advice on how to make a backup of your music, if your

MacBook can't be sync'd with the iPhone. There probably are Support articles on

how to do that. Generally it's always a great idea to backup before making changes.

Good luck...😐

By transferring music from the phone to the macbook, you should still have copies in the phone;

be sure to make a duplicate copy of the iTunes library on an external archive device or hard drive

from the computer. An AirPort base station with attached storage drive may be able to save files

from either, but you'd have to read the Apple Support technical articles about this topic.

http://www.apple.com/support/macbasics/

http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/

http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/

http://www.apple.com/support/osx/mountainlion/

You should be able to sync locally without iCloud (that feature went away after Mt Lion 10.8.5)

by wire, according to several articles from back in the day mavericks was new. Since 10.9 is

not available any more, and Yosemite has been a mixed bag for some (and it's more like iOS

than OS X) I suggest you do more research, as I would have to, in order to attempt to advise.

The version of iTunes in OS X (and iOS) will play an important role in syncing or moving files

or sharing content; and this should be researched to see where your version is now; as it

may be wise to check into Apple Support database on all these factors.

The larger issue would be to avoid upgrading your iPhone since it would be unable to sync with

the computer's older Mountain Lion OS X 10.8.5. (The last step of Mt Lion is a combo update

to the 10.8.5 last step, and is recommended for the computer OS X.) A later iOS for the Phone

and other iDevice, is not advised since there are limits to their being able to communicate when

of different series, with OS X; since you generally cannot revert to an older iOS for iPhone, etc.

And the iTunes sync, is another one of those integrations to be aware of, when changes occur.

Past Mt Lion 10.8.5, & local sync is broken; even if you had a Mavericks installer, offline to use.

At this point, I'm not sure if I should advise you on details here since I'm not in a position to do

a lot of research (time crunch) to be sure it would be sound. And haven't the depth of experience

to feel comfortable in suggesting what may not be adequate for your purposes.

Hopefully at this late time, someone will see your thread and offer advice based on having gone

through similar steps, with more experience, than I have at this time. Sorry to not be of more help.

Good luck! 🙂