2011 MBP - Transferring Files To iPhone 6 Help!

[Bazzy]

Hi All,

I have a Late 2011 17" MBP running High Sierra. I have just got my first ever smartphone - an iPhone 6 which I am now trying to learn how to use!

One of the things I really wish to do is synch my Mac with the iPhone - transfer documents, images, photos etc as easily as possible at whatever locations/folders I wish.

I understand that my machine is too old to use the Airdrop feature sadly & when I connect the iPhone 6 to the MBP, iTunes automatically launches.

I watched some youtube videos where users where able to transfer photos/files from the Mac to iPhone & vice versa by selecting "Photos" in the sidebar. However on mine, there is no "Photos" option & much of the other items relating to the iPhone in iTunes is greyed out.

Please can anyone kindly inform me on what might be going on here & how to rectify as well as any other really easy ways to transfer stuff between the two - wirelessly would be great!

Many Thanks,
Bazzy!

 

[Diazepam]

Hi, where did you read that your system is too old for AirDrop ?

I have never used AirDrop, but from some superficial research, it seems like you should be able to use AirDrop. Look at the system requirements on this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirDrop.

MacOS 10.7 and later, and iOS 7 and later. I think you got confused because you have the iPhone *6* and you read that AirDrop requires >= iOS 7. Note that the requirements mention the OS version number being >= 7, not the phone's model number. iOS >= 7, not iPhone >= 7.

The phone's iOS version should be recent enough to allow AirDrop. Check the iOS version on it. It might be something like iOS 8. If I had an iPhone (I don't), I'd give you more exact info.

You should be able to use AirDrop. Have you tried it ?

 

[Bazzy]

Hi, where did you read that your system is too old for AirDrop ?

I have never used AirDrop, but from some superficial research, it seems like you should be able to use AirDrop. Look at the system requirements on this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirDrop.

MacOS 10.7 and later, and iOS 7 and later. I think you got confused because you have the iPhone *6* and you read that AirDrop requires >= iOS 7. Note that the requirements mention the OS version number being >= 7, not the phone's model number. iOS >= 7, not iPhone >= 7.

The phone's iOS version should be recent enough to allow AirDrop. Check the iOS version on it. It might be something like iOS 8. If I had an iPhone (I don't), I'd give you more exact info.

You should be able to use AirDrop. Have you tried it ?

Hi!

Thanks for replying! the iPhone 6 has the latest iOS 12.1.

I did try Airdrop a number of times but nothing happens - the iPhone 6 does not appear on the Airdrop pane at all.

Thanks for the link - very sadly it states that for transfers between a MBP (running Yosemite or higher) & iOS device it has to be a Mid 2012 MBP model or higher - that rules mine out.

Even when I try to connect it to my MBP (right next to each other) via Bluetooth) it just keeps searching & never picks up the iPhone 6 (Bluetooth turned on with both devices).

Strangely, when I open Finder on my MBP, in the sidebar under devices, the iPhone 6 does not show up but it does in iTunes? Surely, the Mac should detect it when connected?

Right now, I cannot use Airdrop nor iTunes to transfer stuff between the MBP & iPhone & do not know if there are other ways like doing so wirelessly etc. I did not expect to run into such an issue between two Apple products!

Any ideas?

Many Thanks!
Bazzy!

 

[Diazepam]

Hi!

Thanks for replying! the iPhone 6 has the latest iOS 12.1.

I did try Airdrop a number of times but nothing happens - the iPhone 6 does not appear on the Airdrop pane at all.

Thanks for the link - very sadly it states that for transfers between a MBP (running Yosemite or higher) & iOS device it has to be a Mid 2012 MBP model or higher - that rules mine out.

Even when I try to connect it to my MBP (right next to each other) via Bluetooth) it just keeps searching & never picks up the iPhone 6 (Bluetooth turned on with both devices).

Strangely, when I open Finder on my MBP, in the sidebar under devices, the iPhone 6 does not show up but it does in iTunes? Surely, the Mac should detect it when connected?

Right now, I cannot use Airdrop nor iTunes to transfer stuff between the MBP & iPhone & do not know if there are other ways like doing so wirelessly etc. I did not expect to run into such an issue between two Apple products!

Any ideas?

Many Thanks!
Bazzy!

P.S. Sorry I'm not able to give you specifics. I'm sure someone who actually has an iPhone and knows the phone, will respond and give you more precise info. That said, ...

Ah, I see. Yes, you're right, that page does state that your hardware does not meet the minimum requirement for AirDrop.

It is strange that you weren't able to do this via Bluetooth, which would be the next best option. Again, unfortunately, I don't have an iPhone, or else I would play with it and see if I could figure something out for you.

This is a hunch - is there a security feature, either on your iPhone or MBP preventing the pairing, even though Bluetooth is turned on on both devices ? Some Android phones, when enabling Mobile Hotspot, for instance, allow connections only from "trusted devices" (I found this out recently). I know that that is different from Bluetooth, but could there be some similar security feature putting up an obstacle here ? Any setting like "trusted devices" on your iPhone (that would need to be turned off to allow the pairing) ?

Another Q - Go to System PReferences > Bluetooth. Does iPhone 6 show up when you do the scan there ? You said it doesn't show up in Finder, but how about in that preferences dialog ? That is the first thing I'd wanna know. If it doesn't show up at all, then that could be a clue. If it does show up there, are you able to pair it with the MBP ? (See attached image)

The final resort would be to connect the two with a lightning (or whatever) cable that comes with the iPhone.

EDIT - Actually, on second thought, Bluetooth would not be the next best option. From my experience, with Bluetooth, you can only transfer one file at a time, and since your MBP hardware is rather old, the transfer speed will be quite slow. I think you're actually better off using the cable and doing the sync via iTunes coz that will be a more "smart" and convenient way to do the whole thing as one big transfer which will look at file timestamps and only copy what's necessary (what has changed) as opposed to Bluetooth which will just blindly copy one file at a time and prove to be laborious.