Using iPhone as a storage device

[imrazor]

I will be traveling for the first time in quite a while, and will be taking my Macbook along for the flight. A Parallels VM and a couple of Steam games have reduced its available storage to almost nothing. In contrast, my iPhone has >900GB of free space (yes, I hardly take any pictures at all.) I could take an external drive along, but since that storage is already available on the iPhone it seems a shame to waste it.

But it seems that using an iPhone as external storage is rather complicated. You can't just plug it into your Mac and have it appear as a mountable volume (my actual end goal.) There are some workarounds involving 3rd party apps and a 'syncing' process, but I am looking for direct access via Finder. (An example would be using the iPhone as an external Steam library, being directly accessible from the application and not shuffling games around with a third party file manager.)

Many years ago I was able to accomplish something similar with an app that acted as a SMB file server (aka "Windows file sharing") over WiFi on my old iPhone 5S. While this was less convenient/useful than simply accessing storage via USB, having the iPhone storage as a mountable volume was far more usable than swapping files back and forth with a third party application.

Is there any (current) way to directly mount iPhone storage as a volume in MacOS?

 

[eyoungren]

Is there any (current) way to directly mount iPhone storage as a volume in MacOS?

That I am aware of, no. Perhaps there is some third party method, hardware or something but I doubt it'd be like you want. There's software like iMazing that allow you to browse certain parts of the device, but it doesn't mount the device.

It used to be possible, as you indicated, but it involved jailbreaking. Tweaks like this stopped being supported though around iOS 7/8. I used to use Netatalk. I've been out of jailbreaking for quite some time though so no idea if there are any new tweaks for that. I highly doubt it though.

 

[now i see it]

A 250 GB USB flash drive only costs $25

 

[sublunar]

A 250 GB USB flash drive only costs $25

1Tb USB-C SSD (such as a Samsung T7) should also be around $100. Much more convenient, very lightweight.

 

[imrazor]

@eyoungren That's what I was afraid of. I know there are some workarounds (like using some 3rd party apps' storage container via iTunes) to store documents and such.

@now i see it @sublunar You are both correct in regards to cost and convenience. However I find that having fewer devices to remember increases the likelihood that I arrive with everything I need. For me it's especially easy to lose small gadgets. But I'm much better about keeping track of my iPhone.

 

[sublunar]

@eyoungren That's what I was afraid of. I know there are some workarounds (like using some 3rd party apps' storage container via iTunes) to store documents and such.

@now i see it @sublunar You are both correct in regards to cost and convenience. However I find that having fewer devices to remember increases the likelihood that I arrive with everything I need. For me it's especially easy to lose small gadgets. But I'm much better about keeping track of my iPhone.

Gaffa tape the T7 to the back of the phone

In all seriousness, the issue for an iPhone 14 is the Lightning port which offers just USB 2 speeds (480Mb/s). It would be akin to an old style hard drive. The T7 would have up to 10Gb/s, in real terms probably 7Gb/s on an ARM Mac for various reasons, Intel ones get the full 10Gb/s) - many times faster than the 14 Pro even if you did

 

[chown33]

One approach is to have the Mac act as file server (enable File Sharing), then connect to it with the iPhone, and use Files to move things on and off the Mac.

iPhone User Guide

Here’s everything you need to know about iPhone, straight from Apple. This definitive guide helps you get started using iPhone and discover all the amazing things it can do.

support.apple.com

I've done this using an iPad to connect to my MBPro, and as long as they're on the same network and the Mac's name is recognizable, it's worked for me.

I've also got a few micro-SD cards I use for storage. Useful to avoid dealing with networks.

And there's this:

Use the Finder to share files between your Mac and your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch - Apple Support

With macOS Catalina or later, you can use the Finder to share files between your iOS and iPadOS devices and your Mac.

support.apple.com

 

[imrazor]

@chown33 That's a pretty good idea, but it works in reverse from what my goal is. I want a volume that I can mount on my Macbook that Mac apps can then use like plain ol' storage. For example, I'd want to be able to put a (limited) Steam library of downloaded games on the iPhone, or perhaps use for video editing projects. Yes, USB 2 speeds would hinder that use case but it would be much easier than trying to constantly move files off and on a Mac that perpetually below 10% free drive space.

 

[sublunar]

@chown33 That's a pretty good idea, but it works in reverse from what my goal is. I want a volume that I can mount on my Macbook that Mac apps can then use like plain ol' storage. For example, I'd want to be able to put a (limited) Steam library of downloaded games on the iPhone, or perhaps use for video editing projects. Yes, USB 2 speeds would hinder that use case but it would be much easier than trying to constantly move files off and on a Mac that perpetually below 10% free drive space.

Below 10% is a performance issue, have you considered upgrading to a more modern mac with the storage you need?

 

[ignatius345]

@now i see it @sublunar You are both correct in regards to cost and convenience. However I find that having fewer devices to remember increases the likelihood that I arrive with everything I need. For me it's especially easy to lose small gadgets. But I'm much better about keeping track of my iPhone.

Good lord. It's not that hard. Buy one of these and, whatever you're doing to not lose your phone charger, do that for this.

https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-128GB-Ultra-Type-C-SDDDC3-128G-GAM46/dp/B0CKJ8YDRK/ref=asc_df_B0CKJYS8JS?th=1

Or, I guess, spend a bunch of time hacking your iPhone into doing something it is not set up to do.

 

[sublunar]

The model of MacBook hasn’t even been revealed, if it has an SD port like a modern arm MacBook Pro 14 then an SD card would fit in a wallet.

And again I reiterate, if you have less than 10% storage left in your MacBook on a regular basis and can’t shift the storage off to external storage then it’s perhaps time for a new MacBook.

 

[imrazor]

Or, I guess, spend a bunch of time hacking your iPhone into doing something it is not set up to do.

That's something I find curious about most Mac users; a certain complacency and blind faith in what Apple says is and isn't possible. If the hardware is capable, arbitrary limits set by Apple piss me off. Instead of accepting the Gospel According to St. Cook, why don't we try thinking different? Yes, I know, it's not the easy way. But I'd rather try and fail - and learn something in the process - than simply accept what I'm told to.

 

[ventmore]

This is what I found with a quick Google. Haven't tried any of these apps/methods myself. It seems like the Commander One Mac app (2nd link) is as close as you'll get.

How to use your iPhone or iPad as a USB drive on Mac or Windows PC

Learn how to use your iPhone or iPad as a wired or wireless flash drive to store and move files from your Mac or PC.

www.idownloadblog.com

How to use iPhone as a flash drive | Commander One

Get a good opportunity to have a flash drive always at hand - use your iPhone as a flash drive. Read this article and get to know how to do it.

mac.eltima.com

 

[eyoungren]

That's something I find curious about most Mac users; a certain complacency and blind faith in what Apple says is and isn't possible. If the hardware is capable, arbitrary limits set by Apple piss me off. Instead of accepting the Gospel According to St. Cook, why don't we try thinking different? Yes, I know, it's not the easy way. But I'd rather try and fail - and learn something in the process - than simply accept what I'm told to.

I agree and this is one of the primary reasons why my iPhones were all jailbroken from late 2011 to late 2020. I think the attitude comes from being invested in the 'ecosystem'. The more you are invested in it, the less you question Apple's methods and restrictions. It becomes easier to just accept their way of doing things. Because you know, Apple is always right. So the hostility comes out against those who do not toe the line. It also doesn't help that for years Apple suggested that jailbreaking was bad and insecure while actively stealing the work and ideas of jailbreak devs to implement into iOS.

And while I am primarily speaking of iOS here, it applies generally to the entire Apple ecosystem. I don't use my Macs the same way the average Mac user does because I'm not willing to be bound solely to what Apple says is or is not possible.

 

[ignatius345]

That's something I find curious about most Mac users; a certain complacency and blind faith in what Apple says is and isn't possible. If the hardware is capable, arbitrary limits set by Apple piss me off. Instead of accepting the Gospel According to St. Cook, why don't we try thinking different? Yes, I know, it's not the easy way. But I'd rather try and fail - and learn something in the process - than simply accept what I'm told to.

I've been mucking around with my Macs for years. I am no stranger to breaking or bending the "rules" to make the hardware do what I want, and I agree that arbitrary limits are for the birds. And that's why I prefer the Mac as a platform to iOS/iPadOS, because it's relatively open and customizable.

At the same time, I myself would just as soon take the path of least expenditure of time and money to solve an issue. And to me $25 on a flash drive would be a small price to pay to solve this one completely and quickly. It sounds like you're more interested in a project / proof of concept though, so, good luck!