How to transfer music from iPhone/iPad onto MacBook Air?

Hi again, evolving,

Sorry things didn't go so smoothly for you.

Strange that you don't see the top menu in the Music app.

(The Music menu is the one across the top of your Mac, is not found on the Music app window.

You can click on Music,>Preferences > Restrictions to check if any restrictions are set, )

Else

Wondering if you:

• have updated your Mac OS to the latest version
• were signed into Music app. with your Apple ID
• have not exceeded the number of authorised computers (five) in Apple ID

(you might not have deauthorised computers that you no longer use, gave away, or sold?)

Another Apple Support article:

Authorise a Mac to play iTunes Store purchases

(Choose your MacOS at the top for the most accurate info.)

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/music/mus3010/mac

All the best :-)

Hi Evolving,

Welcome to the Apple Community.

Wondering about the source of the music that you want to transfer,

and

in what way it is stored,

Apple support have various articles online to help:

Eg:

If your Music is all in Apple Music you might want to:

Turn on Sync Library with Apple Music

https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT204926

_______________________________________________

OR

"Connect your device to your Mac to sync Music content"

(NB Select your MacOS at the top for the most accurate info.)

If you connect your iPhone to your Mac, using a USB or USB-C cable,

you can transfer and update items between your Mac and your device.

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/music/musf4e9226b/mac

___________________________________________________________

OR

Sync content between your Mac and iPhone or iPad over Wi-Fi

(NB Select your MacOS at the top for the most accurate info.)

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mchlada1d602/12.0/mac/12.0

_________________________________________________________

AND:

Discussion thread:

Why doesn’t iCloud backup music from your phone?

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253383621

________________________________________________________

OR

Download previous iTunes Store purchases in Music on Mac

(NB Select your MacOS at the top for the most accurate info.)

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/music/musf4e9226b/mac

Hope this helps you :-)

Thank you for your reply, Evolving,

especially for narrowing the field, sharing the hitches encountered, and providing a little more insight into your goals.

Re: "I can't find an authorisation button"

Wondering if you have added your Mac to the same Apple ID used on iTunes / Apple Music.

(is automatically achieved by logging in to your same Apple ID on the Mac.).

Apple ID Log-in:

https://appleid.apple.com

AND / OR

How to authorise or deauthorise your computer for iTunes Store purchases

https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201251

How to redownload music from the iTunes Store in the Apple Music app on your Mac

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211816

_________________________________________________

Re: "it only syncs one way"

See the article: "Transfer files between iPad and your computer"

(NB: Choose your iOS number at the top of the article, for accurate info.

See the paragraph: "Transfer files between iPad and your Mac")

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/ipad/ipad32dd03cd/ipados

Hope this helps you solve the issues you encountered :-)

Thank you Evolving,

What happens when you click "Account" on the same menu bar that you used to check the preferences ?

You should be able to sign into your Music account (with your Apple ID) from there.

Eg: choose Account > Authorisations > Authorise This Computer.

This is likely the better option.

Re: "... windows machine has my full downloads on, could I sync from that or not"? 

Try this article: "Move your data from a Windows PC to a Mac"

(Uses "Migration Assistant")

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204087

Hope this helps :-)

You're welcome.

Thank you for your reply.

Good to know!

Re: However, is it possible for me to connect my CD burner to my Mac and download them all over again that way?

One needs to take care to check as many music files are copyright. We may hold the copyright on original music we create.

Seems a CD usually holds around 700 Mb (less than 1 Gb.)

Sometimes, with lots of files to store it is easier to use a purchased jump drive, flash drive, or larger external hard drive.

These have much larger capacity for storage ... eg ... 8 Gb., 16 Gb etc up to portable drives of 500 Gb. or iTb or more.

You may need a short cable with the correct fittings, to use one of these drives for storage, with your Mac.

However, Apple support do have various articles about using an external optical CD drive / burner with Mac

Find out if the optical drive on your Mac can burn discs

(NB: Choose your Mac OS at the top of the article that opens from the link, for accurate info.)

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mchlp1351/12.0/mac/12.0.

With a burn folder on the desktop, you can drag files that you want to burn to the burn folder,

(which still leaves the original files intact, and in place)

and arrange the files as you wish, ready to burn to CD, straight from the folder.)

Create a burn folder to hold files to burn to a CD or DVD on Mac

(NB: Choose your Mac OS at the top of the article that opens from the link, for accurate info.)

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mchlp2806/mac

Choose what your Mac does when you insert a CD or DVD

(NB: Choose your Mac OS at the top of the article that opens from the link, for accurate info.)

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mchlp1354/mac

Store information on CD and DVD discs on Mac

(NB: Choose your Mac OS at the top of the article that opens from the link, for accurate info.)

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mchl8addfd95/12.0/mac/12.0

Eject CDs and DVDs from your Mac

(NB: Choose your Mac OS at the top of the article that opens from the link, for accurate info.)

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mchl2f6b0645/12.0/mac/12.0

Hope this helps :-)