[Tom Marcello]

I have a old iMac (PowerMac6,1, 10.4.11) that won't recognize the new ( and only) iPhone (iPhone 4S) that I just purchased.
I checked to make sure that I have a USB High Speed Bus, and I do.
I tried different ports and I rebooted the iMac and the iPhone and it still doesn't show up in iTunes, so I can't load my Library onto the phone.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

[pscates2.0]

Looks like you may need to update your OS a bit...at least to Leopard?

http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html

Scroll down at above link and note system requirements for syncing with iTunes...10.5.8 or later. iTunes 10.5 needed as well. I wonder if your iMac supports either/both?

Which version, specifically, is your iMac? White plastic? If so, is it PowerPC or Intel-based?

EDIT: Okay, according to Mactracker, the 6,1 is a 24" white iMac (Intel) from 2006-2007. Is this correct? It's able to run the current OS (or at least Snow Leopard, which still has Rosetta support). That's what I'm on (10.6.8) on a aluminum 20" iMac from the August 2007 update. Same Core 2 Duo as yours, and I've got the latest iTunes and sync my iPhone 4 fine.

I think you just need to bump up to Leopard (10.5) or Snow Leopard (10.6), at the very least, and the latest iTunes, and you should be okay.

Hope this helps?

[Tom Marcello]

My iMac is earlier than that. It's a Power PC with a 15" monitor, white "pod" type:

Machine Name: iMac
Machine Model: PowerMac6,1
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (3.3)

Thanks again!

[pscates2.0]

Okay, that's the iMac G4...the white dome/half-sphere with the display "floating" on the movable chrome arm. Is that right? It's what shows up as PowerMac 6,1 in Mactracker. And it's the only G4-based iMac with a 15" display, so that has to be it.

It does support 10.5.8 (last version of Leopard). So it at least supports the minimum OS needed to do this. I'm not sure where to find a copy (eBay? Craigslist?)

And taking a look at the iTunes download page, it seems even the latest version of iTunes supports Intel, G5 and G4 Macs.

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download...p://itunes.com

So if you can get your hands on Leopard and take the iMac to 10.5.8 (as high as this model will go) and download iTunes 10.5 or newer you should be in business.

I apologize...I assumed you had an older Intel-based Mac. I didn't realize it was going back even farther, to the G4!

I had that model myself in 2002-2003. Wish I'd held onto it...

So it's a software thing. It's not going to happen on 10.4.x, so it'll take getting the iMac to 10.5.8 and going from there (and then bear in mind that you'll never get the iMac past that, and that Apple could drop PowerPC support with the next major version of iTunes). But you can always run 10.5.8 and iTunes 10.6 as long as needed to support your new iPhone.

[Tom Marcello]

Well, after talking to the people at Apple, there is no upgrade for my iMac since it does not have a Intel processor. I'll have to buy a new machine sometime in the future, but this one has given me no troubles outside of the fact that some software/programs are no longer compatible.
I've gotten great value from a 10 year old machine.
If it was a PC, i would be on my 3rd one now!
Thanks to everyone here, by the way.

[chucker]

As Paul said, you can buy (used) and install 10.5 Leopard on it if you like.

[pscates2.0]

Originally Posted by Tom Marcello Well, after talking to the people at Apple, there is no upgrade for my iMac since it does not have a Intel processor. I'll have to buy a new machine sometime in the future, but this one has given me no troubles outside of the fact that some software/programs are no longer compatible. I've gotten great value from a 10 year old machine. If it was a PC, i would be on my 3rd one now! Thanks to everyone here, by the way.

Wait a minute...when you say "upgrade", are you talking hardware or software? If you talked to Apple, they're probably just wanting to sell you a new Mac.

Because Apple's site clearly states that the only system requirement for the iPhone (for syncing with iTunes, which is what you're wanting to do) is OS X v10.5.8 or later and iTunes 10.5 or later.

According to the three places I've looked - Mactracker, EveryMac and Apple's own support forums - your iMac can run 10.5.8 (Leopard).

...which leads to the following question "okay, so how recent of a version of iTunes can a G4-based machine run?

Again, according to Apple's own site, the current version of iTunes works on a machine with a G4 processor (it's the first bulleted item under "Macintosh Hardware". When you scroll down to "Macintosh Software", OS 10.5.8 is listed. This stuff is all corroborating each other...directly on Apple's site!

Now if there's a RAM or hard drive space issue - or some funky firmware issue - that I'm unaware of, fine. But I'm not seeing anything that tells me your iMac has to be Intel. Neither iPhone or iTunes requires it, from all I'm seeing. You just need Leopard (10.5.8).

You're right on the cusp of not being eligible, yes, but if your G4-based iMac supports 10.5.8 and and that's the minimum required by iTunes (which works on a G4-based machine), I'm not seeing why you can't?



Getting your hands on a copy of Leopard might be the trickiest part, but it's worth a look. If I had a copy of it, I'd send it to you just to see if I was right!



Either I'm missing something about "Intel only" being a requirement (it's certainly not listed at Apple's site, in the iPhone or iTunes system requirements), or the people at Apple aren't fully on top of the situation.

Odd.

EDIT: Just saw chucker's post. What he said.

I'm telling you...get your hands on Leopard, somehow, and download the latest version of iTunes. I think you'll get what you're after. If not, Apple needs to update their site (and so do the websites above).

[330treehugger]

I have a 2006 Intel based iMac that will not sync with the iPhone 4S. My iMac has Mac OS X 10.4.11 and I need to upgrade. Apparently I need a 2GB SO-DIMM and also a new OS. Can I upgrade straight to 10.6 or do i need to get 10.5 and then 10.6?

[pscates2.0]

I think you can go right to 10.6 Snow Leopard from Tiger (10.4). Can't imagine why not.

I think it only got confusing/odd during the Lion release, when they sold it only online, via the Mac App Store, yet the Mac App Store didn't run on anything earlier than Snow Leopard (10.6). So people who were still on Tiger (10.4) or Leopard (10.5) had to pay $29 to get Snow Leopard for a whole five minutes , before they used it to tap into the Mac App Store to get Lion.

I think I have all that correct, but it kinda starts to run together over time.

I can't think of a reason why you can't jump from 10.4 to 10.6. People often skipped releases on the older disc-based OS X releases and could pop in the disc and install the newest thing (assuming their hardware was supported, of course).

Chucker? Eugene?

[chucker]

I don't know how/if Installer handles skipping a release. It might do an Archive and Install.

Also, depending on whether your iMac is an early 2006 or late 2006 model, you might even be able to run 10.7 Lion (in the latter case).

[330treehugger]

thanks to both of you. It's the late 2006, so Lion it is.