Resolved How to transfer iTunes + iPhone to new Mac?

[Costanegra]

Hello.

I just got a new Mac a few days ago, and I want to move my iTunes media, preferences, playlists, etc, to my new Mac. I also want to transfer all my iPhone backups, apps, preferences, etc, to my new Mac so that I can now backup and sync my iPhone with it, without losing any data or have issues with iTunes not recognizing it. I've googled and searched this forum for a way to do this, but the most common responses focus only on how to transfer music or suggest using Migration Assistant. I've used MA once, and I remember it transferred a lot of Library items that ended up being orphaned files. This time I want my new Mac to be as clean as possible from files, preferences, settings, etc, that I don't want or need.

So the question is, does anybody know a way to transfer iTunes and iPhone data to a new Mac and still be able to sync without any recognition or other kind of issues? I'm guessing there must be a manual method to achieve this... right?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be very appreciated.

Cheers.

 

[Jolly Giant]

i haven't tried the following because i always use setup assistant to migrate from an old to a new Mac. but this should work:

• connect the two Macs with a firewire cable, boot the source Mac in
  Target Disk Mode and drag the entire iTunes folder (not just the iTunes music folder) from <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music on the source to <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music on the target, overwriting the iTunes folder in place there. this assumes that all your media files are in the default location on the source Mac !
  
• also copy this folder from the source to the target: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

when you launch iTunes on the new Mac for the 1st time, you should be taken to the exact same library you were used to. your iPhone, too, will think it is connected to the same library it was always syncing to.

edit: i didn't try the part with the MobileSync folder. the first part of my answer will work.

 

[Costanegra]

i haven't tried the following because i always use setup assistant to migrate from an old to a new Mac. but this should work:

• connect the two Macs with a firewire cable, boot the source Mac in
  Target Disk Mode and drag the entire iTunes folder (not just the iTunes music folder) from <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music on the source to <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music on the target, overwriting the iTunes folder in place there. this assumes that all your media files are in the default location on the source Mac !
  
• also copy this folder from the source to the target: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

when you launch iTunes on the new Mac for the 1st time, you should be taken to the exact same library you were used to. your iPhone, too, will think it is connected to the same library it was always syncing to.

edit: i didn't try the part with the MobileSync folder. the first part of my answer will work.

Thank you, Jolly Giant.

That was useful information. I followed your guide, but I also went ahead and copied all of the listed iTunes preferences (User/Library/Preferences) and a folder called iTunes (User/Library) from the Old Mac to the New Mac. That did the job. I plugged in my iPhone to the new Mac, hit 'Sync', and after I authenticated my account, the Sync was flawless.

On a note, I should add that I previously transferred my Address Book and my iCalendar Library files to the New Mac.

Thanks a lot for your help. Cheers.