Erase and Sync issue

[Mark07]

Hey guys,

I used to maintain my iPhone and iTunes library on my PC until it died on me last year. I recently got a MacBook this summer and never connected my phone to it until now. Upon connecting I got the following error when I tried to sync:

The iPhone "iPhone" is synced with another iTunes library. Do you want to erase this iPhone and sync with this iTunes library?

An iPhone can be synced with only one iTunes library at a time. Erasing and syncing replaces the contents of this iPhone with the contents of this iTunes library.

I've went ahead and authorized my MacBook, clicked on my iPhone in the left pane, transferred purchases and also clicked to backup.

If I go an proceed with the erase and sync, my phone will completely wiped, correct? Also, if I do go through with it and restore from a backup, do I put myself in a loop since the backup is from before the iPhone was synced to my new computer?

 

[r2shyyou]

Hey guys,

I used to maintain my iPhone and iTunes library on my PC until it died on me last year. I recently got a MacBook this summer and never connected my phone to it until now. Upon connecting I got the following error when I tried to sync:

The iPhone "iPhone" is synced with another iTunes library. Do you want to erase this iPhone and sync with this iTunes library?

An iPhone can be synced with only one iTunes library at a time. Erasing and syncing replaces the contents of this iPhone with the contents of this iTunes library.

I've went ahead and authorized my MacBook, clicked on my iPhone in the left pane, transferred purchases and also clicked to backup.

If I go an proceed with the erase and sync, my phone will completely wiped, correct? Also, if I do go through with it and restore from a backup, do I put myself in a loop since the backup is from before the iPhone was synced to my new computer?

I've seen this prompt a number of times before and it always scares the bejesus out of me...but I always eventually say yes and all ends up fine.

What I'd recommend is to back up to iCloud first, since you can't do it on the computer.

As for restoring from the backup, I've always done that and have never had a problem with the backup being linked to a particular computer so I don't think that'll be an issue.

 

[Mark07]

I've seen this prompt a number of times before and it always scares the bejesus out of me...but I always eventually say yes and all ends up fine.

What I'd recommend is to back up to iCloud first, since you can't do it on the computer.

As for restoring from the backup, I've always done that and have never had a problem with the backup being linked to a particular computer so I don't think that'll be an issue.

Why can't I back it up on my MacBook? When the iPhone came up in iTunes I clicked on it and then clicked backup. Is this not correct? Is there an issue backing up locally?

 

[r2shyyou]

Why can't I back it up on my MacBook? When the iPhone came up in iTunes I clicked on it and then clicked backup. Is this not correct? Is there an issue backing up locally?

You can back it up on your MacBook, you just need to first let your iPhone know which computer is its "home" computer (the old PC or the new MacBook). More info here.

What you're doing is correct, you just need to settle this "home" issue first. And no, there isn't (or there shouldn't be) an issue with backing up locally.