How can I transfer my songs in Music on my Mac Studio M1 to Music in my iPhone 14?

How can I transfer my songs in Music on my Mac Studio M1 to Music in my iPhone 14?

My iPhone 14 is connected to my Mac Studio M1 MAX via USB cable and shows up in the Music app! When I try to drag my songs from my Mac Studio into my iPhone 14 they won't go into my iPhone 14! When I try to sync the songs from Mac Studio into iPhone 14 a warning pops up that this will change the songs in my Mac Studio which I don't want to happen!! Why has it become impossible to take my own song from the Mac Studio and transfer it into Music on my iPhone 14?? Yes both are on the same Network!

iPhone 14, iOS 26

Posted on Dec 11, 2025 10:38 AM

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4 replies

Dec 13, 2025 5:03 PM in response to Walter Wedler

Unless you are

  • subscribing to iTunes Match and using "Sync Library"
  • subscribing to Apple Music and using "Sync Library"

synchronization is as Phil0124 describes.


It's one-way, from a master library on a Mac or PC, to a mobile device (iPhone, iPad, or iPod). With the exception that if you have bought a song from the iTunes Store on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you can load it back onto the computer. (In the old days, I think synchronization copied it from the mobile device to the computer; now the model may be that you re-download the song, free of charge, on the computer.)


If you are an Apple Music subscriber and are using "Sync Library", then I believe that copies synchronized through "iCloud Music Library" only work for as long as you are a subscriber. Stop subscribing, and the "original" (e.g., the copies on your Mac Studio) should be OK, but the copies on your iPhone may stop working. (And you may need to do a manual synchronization with no songs selected to clear them out.)

Dec 11, 2025 1:34 PM in response to Walter Wedler

I think you misread or misunderstood the message.


When you sync an iPhone with a computer for the first time, the music on the iPhone is replaced with whatever is on the Mac.


If your Mac did not already have all the music on your iPhone, then the sync would delete everything on the iPhone and replace it with whatever was on the Mac. This is the way syncing has always worked.


As I said before, the music on the Mac will not be altered.

Dec 11, 2025 11:07 AM in response to Phil0124

Thanks Phil0124

As I said when I try to sync what is in songs in my music app on my Mac Studio this message pops in that this will change the songs in my Mac Studio which I don't want to happen!! As matter of fact syncing made all the songs on my iPhone 14 disappear. The songs I had in my Mac Studio were in my iPhone 14! After I synced with my Mac Studio they all disappeared! Nothing left but Apple Music offers!! I can not afford to loose my original songs in my Mac Studio! (Yes I do have a back-up)

How can I transfer my songs in Music on my Mac Studio M1 to Music in my iPhone 14?

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