IOS – Recovering iPhone camera roll from iMac

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Today I upgraded from an iPhone 5s to an iPhone 6s via the Verizon store. The clerk told me everything would be transferred between phones automatically. After getting home I discovered my photos on the Camera Roll were missing. The Camera Roll folder and all album folders are there. They contain blank photos. When I click on a photo it displays a blank frame, but the correct photo date.

All the iPhone photos are on my iMac. So then I wonder if there's any easy way I can transfer the photos from the iMac to the iPhone. The Camera Roll contains 1,667 photos so I am really hoping i don't have to do this on a photo-by-photo basis. Also, a photo may be in more than one album based on who was in the photo. Also, the iPhone photos were not stored in iCloud. Help!

Best Answer

The clerk at the Verizon store was an idiot.

Getting your stuff from the old iPhone to the new is simple but not automatic.

  1. Back up your old iPhone to your computer (encrypt the backup so it saves passwords)
  2. Plug your new unused iPhone into your computer and when prompted by iTunes restore from backup. Use the backup you just made from your old iPhone.

That will do it. It is important to NOT set up the new iPhone before you plug it into your computer. iTunes will recognize a "virgin" iPhone and ask you what you want to do.

You should be able to set up Photos and iTunes to sync what you want from your Mac to your new phone. Just leave the phone plugged into your Mac and open each and set your preferences.