iTunes will not sync old iTunes music library to new iPhone.

Question

Level 1

8 points

iTunes will not sync old iTunes music library to new iPhone.

Hi Apple Community,

I have an external disc containing my old iTunes music library (perhaps 5 or 8 years since adding new albums), which I recently have transferred onto my laptop iTunes. However, when connecting a new 16E phone and wanting to sync the library, it returns that I cannot do this without an Apple Music subscription.

Is this correct? I have to pay to listen to music that I already paid for. I have no interest in streaming music from Apple, I want acces to my music library and stream to my stereo.

Regards,

Per

iPhone 16e

Posted on Aug 18, 2025 11:24 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Servant of Cats

Level 7

33,137 points

Aug 20, 2025 6:36 AM in response to Per Svensson

The cloud-based Sync Library feature requires an Apple Music or iTunes Match subscription. However, if you want to synchronize music manually, over a cable, you can do that with iTunes (High Sierra, Mojave) or with Music + Finder (Catalina and later). That does not require a subscription.

Reply

Answer 2

Aug 20, 2025 7:14 AM in response to Per Svensson

From the phone’s Technical Specifications:

Syncing to a Mac or PC requires:

macOS Catalina 10.15 or later using the Finder
macOS High Sierra 10.13 through macOS Mojave 10.14.6 using iTunes 12.8 or later
Windows 10 or later using iTunes 12.12.10 or later

Reply

Answer 3

Per Svensson Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 20, 2025 10:24 PM in response to Servant of Cats

Thanks for the explanation. I’ll have a go at the manual/cable option.

Reply