How to Sync an iPhone with a New Computer (Windows to Mac)

Recently I was looking around for information on how to begin syncing my iPhone 4 with my MacBook Air rather than my old work PC. It seemed somewhat daunting, and I didn’t want to lose any of my purchases or more importantly, my stored App information, which isn’t transferred with a simple “Transfer Purchases” request through iTunes. It ended up being quite easy to switch from my PC (running Vista) to my MacBook Air – here are the steps:

1. Plug your iPhone into the computer with which it is currently synced.
2. Open iTunes, right click on the iPhone, and click “Transfer Purchases” (just to be safe, we want to ensure everything is backed up).
3. Right click on the iPhone again and click “Backup”.
4. Ensure that all of the photos, videos and music not purchased through iTunes are backed up on your computer. The music is especially important, as it will not carry over to the new computer.
5. Locate and copy your iPhone backup from the old computer to the new computer
   • On Windows 7/Vista, you can find it here:
     C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\AppleComputer\MobileSync\Backup
   • On XP: C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup
   • On OSX: /Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup
6. Before plugging your iPhone into the new computer, open up iTunes. Go into the preferences, and in the Devices tab, check the box that says “Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically”.
7. Plug the iPhone into the new computer, and ensure it is tied to your iTunes account by clicking Store -> Authorize This Computer.
8. Right click on the iPhone, and select “Transfer Purchases”
9. If you haven’t done so already, move the iPhone backup file into the correct location on the new computer, right click on the iPhone through iTunes and click “Restore from Backup”.

You’re done! The only thing you may have to do is copy all of your non-iTunes purchased music from the old computer to the new, and then add it to your iPhone. Also, if there are any issues you can always restore from the backup from the old computer.