You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

📰 Newsroom Update

Billie Eilish is Apple Music’s Artist of the Year for 2024. Learn more >

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

How to Transfer playlists created in iTunes onto new phone

Want to transfer iTunes playlists to new phone. But new iPhone13Pro is too new for my older operating system to see it. (I'm on Mojave OS10.14.6 on a Mac Mini. iTunes version: 12.9.5.5). Is there some other way to transfer playlists to my new phone?

iPhone 13 Pro

Posted on Apr 24, 2022 4:07 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 25, 2022 5:14 AM

For iOS 14/15 you need iTunes 12.8.2.3 or better running on OS X 10.11.6 or better. See How to upgrade to OS X El Capitan - Apple Support if required.


Assuming a suitable version of iTunes is in place then in Finder use the menu item Go > Go to Folder..., copy the following text, paste it into the dialog box and press enter:


/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework/Versions/Current/Resources


Unlock your device and connect it to USB. Double click on MobileDeviceUpdater in the folder that has opened. It should notify you of a software update. Install it and iTunes should hopefully recognize your device.



tt2

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 25, 2022 5:14 AM in response to ChuckLaB

For iOS 14/15 you need iTunes 12.8.2.3 or better running on OS X 10.11.6 or better. See How to upgrade to OS X El Capitan - Apple Support if required.


Assuming a suitable version of iTunes is in place then in Finder use the menu item Go > Go to Folder..., copy the following text, paste it into the dialog box and press enter:


/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework/Versions/Current/Resources


Unlock your device and connect it to USB. Double click on MobileDeviceUpdater in the folder that has opened. It should notify you of a software update. Install it and iTunes should hopefully recognize your device.



tt2

Apr 28, 2022 9:42 AM in response to turingtest2

Thank You turingtest2!!!

This worked! I can now see my iPhone13Pro in iTunes (12.9.5.5) on MacOS Mojave (OS 10.14.6).

Thank you, thank you, thank you!


Two thoughts:

  1. I had previously seen this message (about updating software) and had disregarded it as I thought it meant upgrading my Mac to OS Monterey. But I was wrong. Once I hit "ok", it downloaded software to the phone so that MacOS Mojave can now see the phone in iTunes.
  2. The new phone only shows up in iTunes (which is fine - that's what I want), but it does not show up on the desktop. Nor in the finder windows either. I guess that's an Apple decision, but it feels rather un-Mac-like. Oh well. At least it works for what I want it for - getting playlists onto the new phone.

How to Transfer playlists created in iTunes onto new phone

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.