How to Back Up iPhone X/ XS (Max) to a Mac

Your iPhone X/ XS (Max) contains tons of personal data, from your contacts, text messages, notes to your captured photos, downloaded video clips and documents. Backing up your iPhone to Mac is a great way to keep your these data files safe locally. Thankfully, there are a lot of different ways available for you to back up iPhone X/ XS (Max) to Mac computer, and it's always up to you to choose which one will suit for you.

In this post the method we'll focus on involves using the Apple's Finder and two popular third party applications. Follow the instructions below to start the process of getting iPhone XS (Max, X) data backed up into Mac. All ways works well with different models of Mac computers.

Option 1: Back up iPhone X/ XS (Max) data to Mac with Finder

If' you're making a whole backup of your iPhone data on Mac, you'll probably find Apple's Finder (or iTunes) is the best way to go. It's the most often suggested method when it comes to backing up iOS device locally because it works well in most cases and you can always get assistance from Apple Support.

On a Mac with MacOS Catalina 10.15 or above - Finder

• Connect iPhone to Mac using the supplied cable.
• Run Finder on the Mac computer.
• Choose your iPhone name from the left sidebar.
• In General tab, check Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac.
• Click Back Up Now.

Tip: You can select "Encrypt local backup" to set an encryption for the backup file before you start the backup process. When the backup process is finished, you can notice the date and time of the last backup, just above the Manage Backups button.

On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier - iTunes

To back up the iPhone XS (X, Max) data to Mac with iTunes:

• Connect your iPhone to the Mac and launch iTunes.
• Click the device icon on the upper left corner of the iTunes window.
• Choose Summary.
• Press Back Up Now to start the backup.

iTunes & Finder is a great tool for backing iPhone X/ XS files on Mac computer, but if you want to only get a partial backup of the data it doesn't give you a lot to work with. In this case, you may go and try the next two options.

Option 2: via Fonelab

Designed for backing iOS data, iOS Data Backup & Restore - Fonelab frees you from trouble, letting you quickly back up iPhone files to Mac (MacBook, Pro, Mac Mini, iMac, Pro) and restore them without a hitch. Unlike iTunes & Finder, you can select what types of data to back up, and choose to back up it to internal hard drive of computer or to an external storage device.

After you're done with download and installation of the program, you may go ahead with the backup process.

Step 1: Run the program and choose backup mode

Connect your iPhone to the Mac with the included lightning cable. Launch the utility and you will now see a screen with four menus listed in the left column, choose More tools option.

In the next opening window choose iOS Data Backup & Restore.

Go ahead and select iOS Data Backup tab.

You then will get into the next window, asking you to choose "Standard backup" or "Encrypted backup". You can choose making a normal backup without password-protected or setting an encryption for the backup to prevent it from being accessed by others.

Step 2: Select files types and start backing up to Mac

Next, select what types of data you want to back up, and then click the "Next" button.

The program will start the process of backing up data on your iPhone X/ XS to Mac computer. It might take a while or longer — the more (or larger) files you back up, the more time it will take.

[Useful Guide: How Do I Back Up iPhone 6s (Plus) without iCloud]

Option 3: by Phone Transfer

Phone Transfer is another easy way of backing iPhone X/ XS data up to Mac machine. With this, you can quickly back up your most important files (photos, videos, contacts, messages, etc.) from iPhone to your Mac, or even to a phone in a direct way.

To back up data on iPhone X/ XS:

• Run Phone Transfer on your Mac and connect the iPhone.
• Click the blue "Back up your phone" tab on the interface.
• Select data types in the list.
• Click Start Copy.