In my line of work, I constantly need pictures on my desktop or laptop that I’ve taken on my iPhone. I personally use iCloud on Photos because the images immediately appear on my synced computers. However, there are a number of different ways to transfer pictures to your desktop or laptop, which also makes it much easier to delete them off of your iPhone, freeing up space.
We’ve got a basic how-to guide for transferring photos from your iPhone or iPad Photos app to your Mac using a few different options.
Transfer iPhone or iPad photos using Photos app
Users who are running an older version of the Mac operating system may not have the new Photos app, but the older iPhoto instead. Note that the steps are almost identical to import your iPhone or iPad photos to your Mac using iPhoto or the new Photos app.
There are two ways to transfer pictures from your iOS device using iPhoto on Mac. The first requires you to connect your Mac to your mobile device. The other relies on iCloud.
To transfer images to your computer using a USB connection
Step 1. Connect your iOS device to your Mac using the USB to iOS cable.
Step 2. The Photos app should open automatically, but if it doesn’t open the app.
Step 3. Select the pictures you wish to import the click on “Import Selected,” or select “Import All.”
Tip: You may want to check the “Delete items” checkbox before importing the photos if you want to delete these photos from your iPhone or iPad after the import.
As I mentioned above, I use the Photos app connected to all of my iOS devices through iCloud. Pictures automatically appear in the Photos app, no matter where you are, as long as your device is capable of syncing with iCloud.
Follow the steps below to connect your iOS device to Photos on your Mac
Step 1: On your iOS Device, open Settings app > iCloud > Photos.
Step 2: Turn on My Photo Stream on your iOS device.
Step 3: On your Mac, launch the Photos app and go to Preferences > iCloud > and make sure My Photo Stream is selected.
Step 4: To view these pictures, select My Photo Stream from the sidebar to see pictures that are automatically synced from your iOS device.
Transfer photos from iphone or iPad using Image Capture
If you want a “lighter” option than Photos, you can import pictures using Image Capture instead. This method allows you to select where you want to save the pictures on your Mac.
Step 1. Connect your iPhone to your OS X computer and open Image Capture.
Step 2. Select your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from the list of connected devices.
Step 3. Open the drop down menu next to “Import To” and select the folder you want to transfer pictures to. If you don’t see the folder on the main list, select “Other” for more options.
Step 4. Select the specific pictures you wish to import and click Import, or select “Import All.”
Transfer iPhone or iPad photos with AirDrop
Apple’s AirDrop was updated for iOS and OS X to make it possible for you to share files from your mobile device to your desktop or laptop wirelessly. Admitedly, this method is best used when transferring a small amount of photos. You definitely wouldn’t want to move hundreds of pictures over AirDrop.
First, you will need to make sure AirDrop is set up properly on your Mac.
Step 1. Open Finder and click on AirDrop in the sidebar.
Step 2. Make sure AirDrop is enabled by selecting either “Contacts Only” or “Everyone” from the dropdown menu.
To transfer photos from the Photos app in iOS to your Mac:
Step 1. Open Photos > Select Album > Select images you wish to send to your Mac
Step 2. Select the Share icon at the bottom of the screen.
Step 3. Select your Mac computer from the list of devices that appear in the AirDrop section. The photos will automatically transfer to the downloads folder on your Mac.
That’s all there is to it. Now you can quickly share photos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your Mac computer.
