So I got an iPhone 5 but I have a G5 iMac and can't sync...

Unfortunately no way to do this on a G5. Going to have to use a newer Mac or borrow someone's trusty Windows machine. Shame that a 10+ year PC can do this but a 6 year old Mac can't.

darkside flow said:

Unfortunately no way to do this on a G5. Going to have to use a newer Mac or borrow someone's trusty Windows machine. Shame that a 10+ year PC can do this but a 6 year old Mac can't.

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Well said.
Its pure Greed.
Not like a G5 cannot run itunes or support syncing an iphone.

Your computer is nearly 7 years old, running a RISC chip. You need to update to an intel based system, man. You can't expect your antiquated architecture to be supported indefinitely, can you?

MadGoat said:

Your computer is nearly 7 years old, running a RISC chip. You need to update to an intel based system, man. You can't expect your antiquated architecture to be supported indefinitely, can you?

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Have to agree, it is time to upgrade OP.

bad03xtreme said:

Well ain't that some bull$@#+ I spend money on another Apple product because I am in the ecosystem only to be screwed for being a loyal customer...

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Not that I disagree, but the requirements for the iPhone 5 are/were clearly posted at Apple's website. The system requirements for iTunes 10.7 were/are clearly posted there as well. iTunes 10.7 was released two days before the iPhone was announced and when Apple announced the iPhone 5 it made clear that you needed iTunes 10.7 to sync with it.

I made my preorder purchase on the 14th of September knowing full well I could not sync with the phone. Both the PowerPC forums here and the iPhone forums at Apple had many discussions on this.

That said, there are alternatives. PhoneView will at least allow you to see and interact with the iPhone file system. Dropbox allows you to get photos back and forth as well. But to do a true sync you will need (as has been mentioned) an Intel Mac or a PC.

eyoungren said:

Not that I disagree, but the requirements for the iPhone 5 are/were clearly posted at Apple's website. The system requirements for iTunes 10.7 were/are clearly posted there as well. iTunes 10.7 was released two days before the iPhone was announced and when Apple announced the iPhone 5 it made clear that you needed iTunes 10.7 to sync with it.

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Good point. The requirements were well known.

When I got my iphone 4 (first smartphone) a couple years ago I had the same problem with iTunes. I ended up buying a new Mac essentially so I could sync my new iphone. So my $200 phone actually cost me $2000. Oh well, it was worth it.

You do know that iPhones are now PC-free. Just use iCloud-based backup/syncing. Problem solved.

MadGoat said:

Your computer is nearly 7 years old, running a RISC chip. You need to update to an intel based system, man. You can't expect your antiquated architecture to be supported indefinitely, can you?

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Far older Windows computers can run the latest version of iTunes.

It's a bit embarrassing that PCs made in the 90s can run iTunes on Windows, but something made by Apple in 2006 can't.

JayLenochiniMac said:

You do know that iPhones are now PC-free. Just use iCloud-based backup/syncing. Problem solved.

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The OP clearly stated that they want to sync their music collection.

Daveoc64 said:

Far older Windows computers can run the latest version of iTunes.

It's a bit embarrassing that PCs made in the 90s can run iTunes on Windows, but something made by Apple in 2006 can't.



The OP clearly stated that they want to sync their music collection.

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Exactly.
Its not that non-intell macs or older 6 year old macs cannot run the latest itunes or recognize the new iphone.
Its that Apple doesnt allow it for obvious reasons. $$$$$$
Its funny how my 15 year old windows XP computer installs the latest itunes and syncs and recognizes the iphone 5 fine but a newer mac doesnt.
Maybe in 3-4 years your now new mac wont get any more updates by apple so wont be able to recognize your then new iphone, ipad or ipod, apple tv and so on.
So in order to have the newer gadget and be able to use it you will have to keep buying new Apple computers.
Very shady IMO.

Applejuiced said:

Exactly.
Its not that non-intell macs or older 6 year old macs cannot run the latest itunes or recognize the new iphone.
Its that Apple doesnt allow it for obvious reasons. $$$$$$
Its funny how my 15 year old windows XP computer installs the latest itunes and syncs and recognizes the iphone 5 fine but a newer mac doesnt.
Maybe in 3-4 years your now new mac wont get any more updates by apple so wont be able to recognize your then new iphone, ipad or ipod, apple tv and so on.
So in order to have the newer gadget and be able to use it you will have to keep buying new Apple computers.
Very shady IMO.

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Or you could just bootcamp and have a windows install and never have to deal with this problem...

njean777 said:

Or you could just bootcamp and have a windows install and never have to deal with this problem...

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I like that idea.
That's thinking out of the box.

You'll have to tell itunes where the library is, but that's pretty easy. Just make sure you have your hd plugged in when syncing; otherwise, your phone might get wiped.

bad03xtreme said:

I have a MacBook Pro that I use from work that I could use to set up my iPhone, also all of my iTunes library is on an external HD so could I plug that into the MacBook and get the music onto the iPhone that way?

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I'd wager it won't be too much longer until the C2D imacs become redundant.

Applejuiced said:

Exactly.
Its not that non-intell macs or older 6 year old macs cannot run the latest itunes or recognize the new iphone.
Its that Apple doesnt allow it for obvious reasons. $$$$$$
Its funny how my 15 year old windows XP computer installs the latest itunes and syncs and recognizes the iphone 5 fine but a newer mac doesnt.
Maybe in 3-4 years your now new mac wont get any more updates by apple so wont be able to recognize your then new iphone, ipad or ipod, apple tv and so on.
So in order to have the newer gadget and be able to use it you will have to keep buying new Apple computers.
Very shady IMO.

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It's the difference in chips. Apple aren't going to write software for anything other than intel chips. They make that very clear and have dropped all support for POWERPC with Lion.

I bet the 10+ year old PC wouldn't be usable while running iTunes with a library more than a few songs due to the RAM constraints.

njean777 said:

Or you could just bootcamp and have a windows install and never have to deal with this problem...

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You can only bootcamp on Intel based macs! As the RISC architecture isn't compatible with Windows!

njean777 said:

Or you could just bootcamp and have a windows install and never have to deal with this problem...

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Not going to work, apple introduced bootcamp after the intel macs hit the street. Since PowerPC Macs cannot run windows, there was no reason for apple to introduce bootcamp.

OP, I understand your frustration but seriously, a 10 year old computer cannot be expected to run and interface with the latest and greatest products. Its not pure greed but rather economics. The number of PPC based Macs are but a tiny percentage at this point and apple as long since dropped PPC from being supported in OSX.

I'd recommend a second hand Mac Mini or MBP if your budget is an issue, otherwise grab a new MBP, iMac or Mac Mini at this point

bad03xtreme said:

So with an iMac G5 there is zero way to get my music onto my iPhone5? Apple doesn't see anything wrong with that? That pisses me off to no end, I understand the announced the specs but why am I not allowed to load music I purchased from their store on a product I bought from them onto another product I bought from them? Seems asinine.

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No way to sync directly no however you can use iTunes Match do it indirectly

hobsgrg said:

No way to sync directly no however you can use iTunes Match do it indirectly

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What's the latest version of iTunes for PowerPCs?

bad03xtreme said:

I am running 10.6.3 and it says I am up to date.

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It says you are up to date because Software Update does not show you any updates your Mac cannot run. iTunes 10.7 cannot run on PowerPC Macs, hence Software Update does not show it. You are "up to date" with what your Mac is capable of running.

Your options are:
1. Intel Mac with iTunes 7
2. PC with iTunes 7
3. PhoneView (PowerPC)
4. Some other third party PowerPC app that can allow you to access the iPhone file system.

bad03xtreme said:

So with an iMac G5 there is zero way to get my music onto my iPhone5? Apple doesn't see anything wrong with that? That pisses me off to no end, I understand the announced the specs but why am I not allowed to load music I purchased from their store on a product I bought from them onto another product I bought from them? Seems asinine.

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Log in to the iTunes store on your iPhone, from there you can download the music you purchased from the store.