MacBook not compatible with iPhone 7

[psywzrd]

Posted this in another section here on the forum but not getting answers, so I'm trying here instead. Mods, please feel free to delete the other thread I started about this.

So my early 2008 MacBook isn't compatible with the iPhone 7, which requires at least os 10.9 and iTunes 12.5. I don't really want to purchase a new MBP, MB, MBA, etc. right now, so I'm trying to figure out what to do so that I can use my iPhone 7.

I figure I have 2 choices - either install parallels and Windows on my MB OR buy the cheapest Windows laptop I can find to hold me over until I can buy a new Mac.

What do you guys think is the better option for me? If I buy a new Windows machine, is there a way to install iTunes and point it to my MacBook for the data (music, apps, tv shows, movies, photos etc)? In other words, can I set it up so that I can sync my iPhone to iTunes on the Windows machine as if it was iTunes on my MacBook (which has everything I need). Can I back it up on the Windows machine as well so that the backups are stored on the Mac?

I guess I'm just trying to figure out if there's a way to keep iTunes on my Mac synced with iTunes on the Windows machine. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

[dangerfish]

What exactly are you wanting to connect the phone to the MB for? I used to do that to setup/backup my phones but haven't needed to do that in years.

 

[yoGiRLDaniE]

If you get a new computer you can move your entire library including all playlist and star ratings and all to the new computer. Use this article to help you do so. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204318

 

[Jimmy James]

What exactly are you wanting to connect the phone to the MB for? I used to do that to setup/backup my phones but haven't needed to do that in years.

Almost all of my media is locally stored content. Music, pictures, videos. I like to sync them both ways with a physical machine depending on where I create or obtain them. Is this unusual?

 

[psywzrd]

What exactly are you wanting to connect the phone to the MB for? I used to do that to setup/backup my phones but haven't needed to do that in years.

I'm trying to restore from a backup of my iPhone 6. All of my music, videos, apps, pics etc need to be brought over to the new phone; however, the Mac is too old so I can't sync it unless I do the whole parallels/Windows thing.
[doublepost=1474924255][/doublepost]

If you get a new computer you can move your entire library including all playlist and star ratings and all to the new computer. Use this article to help you do so. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204318

Thank you. I kind of want my MacBook to remain my main computer though (I want to download new music, videos, etc to it). I was just hoping that there might be a way to set it up so that iTunes on my Windows machine (if I purchase one that is) uses the entire iTunes database on my Mac.
[doublepost=1474924297][/doublepost]

Almost all of my media is locally stored content. Music, pictures, videos. I like to sync them both ways with a physical machine depending on where I create or obtain them. Is this unusual?

Not unusual at all. I do the same thing so that is part of my dilemma here.

 

[RootBeerMan]

The same thing is currently affecting me. I upgraded my 5S to iOS10 and cannot synch with my older version of iTunes or iPhoto on my phone anymore. So, I'm stuck without any ability to restore to a previous backup and am locked out of my music and photo libraries. Only real option it to upgrade to a new iMac (which I'm wanting to do, anyway) when/if Apple decides to bring out new products. After that I can think about getting a 7. I do know one thing, though. I'll not be using iTunes on my computer to backup any longer. Strictly cloud based from now on.

 

[psywzrd]

The same thing is currently affecting me. I upgraded my 5S to iOS10 and cannot synch with my older version of iTunes or iPhoto on my phone anymore. So, I'm stuck without any ability to restore to a previous backup and am locked out of my music and photo libraries. Only real option it to upgrade to a new iMac (which I'm wanting to do, anyway) when/if Apple decides to bring out new products. After that I can think about getting a 7. I do know one thing, though. I'll not be using iTunes on my computer to backup any longer. Strictly cloud based from now on.

You'll still need iTunes to get your music back though, yes? Sounds like you also store music locally on your phone like I do. I like having it on my phone instead of having it in the cloud and relying on an Internet connection in order to listen to my music. Even with unlimited data, I'm not totally comfortable with relying on the cloud so much.

 

[eyoungren]

It's things like this that drove me to alternate solutions a long time ago.

My iTunes music library is on a Snow Leopard MBP and is connected to Google Play Music. So, my entire library is in Google Play, including playlists. Any changes in iTunes are reflected to my Google Play. I can thus stream my entire libary from any devce.

Contacts and calendars are Google. Able to use on any device. Email is iMAP. Photos are offloaded through Dropbox.

Things like movies, ringtones and books don't tend to change very much on my device so I use iTunes on a device that supprts syncing in the once in a blue moon instance I need it.

Apple long ago abandoned PowerPC Mac users to their own devices so I've been using iPhones that cannot sync with my Macs since September 2012.

 

[RootBeerMan]

It's things like this that drove me to alternate solutions a long time ago.

My iTunes music library is on a Snow Leopard MBP and is connected to Google Play Music. So, my entire library is in Google Play, including playlists. Any changes in iTunes are reflected to my Google Play. I can thus stream my entire libary from any devce.

Contacts and calendars are Google. Able to use on any device. Email is iMAP. Photos are offloaded through Dropbox.

Things like movies, ringtones and books don't tend to change very much on my device so I use iTunes on a device that supprts syncing in the once in a blue moon instance I need it.

Apple long ago abandoned PowerPC Mac users to their own devices so I've been using iPhones that cannot sync with my Macs since September 2012.

Are you able to download the music from Google Play onto your phone, or is it strictly cloud play?

 

[eyoungren]

Are you able to download the music from Google Play onto your phone, or is it strictly cloud play?

I can download it. And I have the storage for it. But I have an Unlimited Data plan and great coverage so it's not really necessary to do so.

 

[RootBeerMan]

Hmm. looks like Google Play may be a solution to me getting my music off of my old iMac and back onto my phone. I tend to travel around to places that don't have great coverage or Wi-Fi access and I don't have an unlimited plan. Sounds like this might offer me a workaround.

 

[andyp350]

My personal advice would be to invest in a cloud based solution. Once you get it set up and sorted you'll never be able to go back, so much more convenient.
iCloud storage for your photo library and an iTunes Match subscription to get your iTunes library in the cloud is a much cheaper solution than buying a new laptop.
I haven't wanted or needed to connect an iOS device to iTunes in years now.

 

[eyoungren]

Hmm. looks like Google Play may be a solution to me getting my music off of my old iMac and back onto my phone. I tend to travel around to places that don't have great coverage or Wi-Fi access and I don't have an unlimited plan. Sounds like this might offer me a workaround.

Just download everything you want beforehand and you'll be set.

If you hook Google's System Preference Pane into your System Preferences on a Mac it can even take care of any of your iTunes library changes for you.

 

[RootBeerMan]

Now to see how long it takes to upload 50K songs.

 

[psywzrd]

My personal advice would be to invest in a cloud based solution. Once you get it set up and sorted you'll never be able to go back, so much more convenient.
iCloud storage for your photo library and an iTunes Match subscription to get your iTunes library in the cloud is a much cheaper solution than buying a new laptop.
I haven't wanted or needed to connect an iOS device to iTunes in years now.

I like having my music actually stored on my device. It's one of the reasons I buy the phones with more storage. I just don't like relying on the cloud for my entertainment needs.

 

[andyp350]

I like having my music actually stored on my device. It's one of the reasons I buy the phones with more storage. I just don't like relying on the cloud for my entertainment needs.

I'm the same, using an iCloud music library you can manage your library and what songs, albums, playlists you want stored on your phone memory for offline play, it's really easy and convenient.
My iTunes library is about 80GB in size, I have about 30-40GB of it permanently stored in my phones memory as I drive a lot for work, usually with weak or no internet signal.
The rest of my library I can stream or download on the fly if a fancy it. The other benefit is that I can do this whenever I hit 3G or 4G, no need to wait until I get home to re sync with my MacBook.

I get that some people don't like relying on cloud systems, it does require a bit of a change in mindset about the way we do things and manage our data but in my opinion cloud libraries and storage isn't the future, it's already the present. The thought of having to plug in and use my MacBook to manage the content on my iPhone seems really archaic and cumbersome to me now.

 

[eyoungren]

I like having my music actually stored on my device. It's one of the reasons I buy the phones with more storage. I just don't like relying on the cloud for my entertainment needs.

I have a 64GB iPhone 5 and a 128GB iPhone 6s+. Before the 6s+ I had a 128GB 6+.

I buy the maximum capacity as well. I just don't put my music (or much of anything else) on my phone.

 

[psywzrd]

Would installing parallels and Windows on my MacBook work?

 

[psywzrd]

Spoke with parallels support and they say that I can install parallels 10 on my MacBook. I would probably do that and Windows 7 since that is probably the least resource-intensive version of Windows that will work with the iPhone 7 anyway.

If I do this and install iTunes for Windows, can I point Windows iTunes to the iTunes database that's already on my MacBook so that it sees all of my music, videos, apps, photos, etc? If so, this is the cheapest option for me and would save me from having to buy a Windows machine that I really don't want.

 

[psywzrd]

Can someone please help me out with this? I have a brand-new iPhone 7 just sitting in my house begging to be used but I can't do anything with it until I figure out if this parallels/Windows thing will work. And time is ticking on my window to either return the phone OR turn in my iPhone 6 to AT&T for my $650 credit. Thx.

 

[Mrbobb]

Use a friend's PC/newer Mac that's my suggestion.

That's one thing I dislike OSX. Am betting my lunch money the latest iTunes still runs on XP.

 

[psywzrd]

Use a friend's PC/newer Mac that's my suggestion.

That's one thing I dislike OSX. Am betting my lunch money the latest iTunes still runs on XP.

That won't help me. I need my data from my computer. Using someone else's computer is not an option.

 

[Mrbobb]

Well if you keep going can't do this and can't do that, I don't know where this thread is going.

Can't copy your iTunes library to friend's Mac? I agree it won't be pretty but the alternative is a new Mac and you will be buying it under pressure.

 

[psywzrd]

I'm looking for a more permanent solution than using a friend's computer. I'm not just concerned with the initial setup here - I want and need to be able to sync and backup my phone via iTunes. That's why I'm asking if the parallels/Windows option is a good one for me. It's certainly cheaper than buying a new Mac (and a new Windows machine for that matter), and it could solve my problem for me until the MBP and MBA are refreshed and I can consider purchasing a new Mac.

Nobody seems to be able to answer me though so I'm starting to think that maybe what I'm looking to accomplish can't be done using parallels and Windows on my MacBook.

 

[takasugi]

I'm looking for a more permanent solution than using a friend's computer. I'm not just concerned with the initial setup here - I want and need to be able to sync and backup my phone via iTunes. That's why I'm asking if the parallels/Windows option is a good one for me. It's certainly cheaper than buying a new Mac (and a new Windows machine for that matter), and it could solve my problem for me until the MBP and MBA are refreshed and I can consider purchasing a new Mac.

Nobody seems to be able to answer me though so I'm starting to think that maybe what I'm looking to accomplish can't be done using parallels and Windows on my MacBook.

Why don't you download the trial version of parallels and a trial version of windows 10 and check it yourself? Doesn't cost anything and then you will know for sure.