# Can we have two different iPhones backed up to the same Mac? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 4, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-have-two-different-iphones-backed-up-to-the-same-mac/633669 "2012-09-04T19:11:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-have-two-different-iphones-backed-up-to-the-same-mac/633669/1 "2012-09-04T19:11:12Z")
Mrs Piper and I both have iPhones. I’ve tried to back mine up, but I get her stuff on mine. Is there a way to have two separate profiles on the same Mac? And where is the profile for the iPhone on the Mac? I’ve tried to find it on iTunes, but can only find music stuff? ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-have-two-different-iphones-backed-up-to-the-same-mac/633669/2 "2012-09-04T19:36:43Z")
The answer to this is probably going to hinge on what exactly you mean by “her stuff”. My wife and I use a single Mac account and iTunes store account for 2 iPhones and 2 IPads, so a qualified “yes”. Our data and settings are backed up and safe and we have successfully switched to new devices. When we sync them, we can select different apps, books, music etc. out of the entire collection maintained bu iTunes. However, we do not share address books and calendars with each other. One of keeps a Mac Address book and one uses google. Don’t use calendars other than standalone. I suspect that separate Mac logins or iCloud accounts would help, but with additional complexity I have not yet investigated. I think you can have a shared AppleiD for music and purchases and each have another AppleID for iCloud. Someone will be by in a moment with more info… ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-have-two-different-iphones-backed-up-to-the-same-mac/633669/3 "2012-09-04T20:40:41Z")
One way to keep things as separate as possible is to set up two user accounts on the Mac, and sync the iPhone only when logged into your user account. I know this isn’t the only solution, though. I’m not sure what profile of the iPhone you’re looking for. When it is plugged in, you can see a screen showing some statistics and options (like when iOS was last updated). If that’s not what you’re looking for, can you be more specific? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-have-two-different-iphones-backed-up-to-the-same-mac/633669/4 "2012-09-04T21:43:00Z")
Yup, separate logons will keep your stuff separate. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-have-two-different-iphones-backed-up-to-the-same-mac/633669/5 "2012-09-04T22:03:57Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > The answer to this is probably going to hinge on what exactly you mean by “her stuff”. i got all of her apps on my iPhone after the upgrade, plus all the bookmarks from our Mac added to my book marks on my iPhone. I don’t want either added; I just want to be able to back up my iPhone and update two apps. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-have-two-different-iphones-backed-up-to-the-same-mac/633669/6 "2012-09-04T22:05:28Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > One way to keep things as separate as possible is to set up two user accounts on the Mac, and sync the iPhone only when logged into your user account. I know this isn’t the only solution, though. > > I’m not sure what profile of the iPhone you’re looking for. When it is plugged in, you can see a screen showing some statistics and options (like when iOS was last updated). If that’s not what you’re looking for, can you be more specific? i guess the user accounts are what I’m looking for - it seems to think that my iPhone has my wife’s phone number and e-mail. How do I set up a separate account for my iPhone, with my e-maail and phone number, and only my apps? ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-have-two-different-iphones-backed-up-to-the-same-mac/633669/7 "2012-09-04T22:32:56Z")
There are several suggestions here: [http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1495?viewlocale=en\_US&locale=en\_US](http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1495?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US) Option 3 might do what you want. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-have-two-different-iphones-backed-up-to-the-same-mac/633669/8 "2012-09-05T01:41:58Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > i got all of her apps on my iPhone after the upgrade, plus all the bookmarks from our Mac added to my book marks on my iPhone. I don’t want either added; I just want to be able to back up my iPhone and update two apps. Before sync’ing you can fine tune things exactly in iTunes. For each iPhone, there is a series of ‘tabs’ or ‘pages’ for things like Info, Music, Apps, Movies - each page scrolls and allows you to tell it to sync or not sync, or sync only checked items. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-have-two-different-iphones-backed-up-to-the-same-mac/633669/9 "2012-09-05T01:55:21Z")
You don’t need separate accounts. As long as your iPhones have different names. In the Apps tab, uncheck automatically sync new apps or something like that. That’s why you’re getting her apps on your phone. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-have-two-different-iphones-backed-up-to-the-same-mac/633669/10 "2012-09-05T04:43:29Z")
Right, all the suggestions have been very helpful - thanks! I’ve got it back to the way I wanted, with only my apps and mail account on it. However, there’s one problem. You konw how the App Store icon shows a white number in a red circle when there’s an update available for a particular app, and then you go into App Store and click on the update? I’ve got a message for one app that is not on my iPhone - and I can’t delete the icon in the App Store showing that there’s an update waiting for that app. Any ideas? That particular app isn’t even on our Mac / itunes account any more, because we replaced it with a more recent one. How do I delete the update notification? Again, many thanks for all the replies. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-have-two-different-iphones-backed-up-to-the-same-mac/633669/11 "2012-09-05T10:41:23Z")
scratch that - it finally resolved itself after much fiddling. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-have-two-different-iphones-backed-up-to-the-same-mac/633669/12 "2012-09-05T20:31:00Z")
[[sigh]] - it deleted all of my contacts when I upgraded the OS.