Speed Up Your iPhone Backups in iTunes

Sometimes backing up the iPhone in iTunes during a sync takes a while. According to Apple, now there's a new way to speed up the process.

Backup times can suffer when there are a large number of photos or videos on the Camera Roll. To speed up your iPhone backup the media files must be imported to your computer, removed from the camera roll, and re-synced to the iPhone.

First import the photos from your iPhone to the computer. On a Mac iPhoto makes this a simple process. Check "Delete Originals" when prompted to remove the transferred media files from the iPhone.

If you're using a Windows machine, use the scanner and camera wizard (XP) or the photo gallery (Vista) to import your iPhone pictures. Make sure the option to erase pictures after copying is selected.

With your media files safely copied to your computer and the Camera Roll empty, now you can sync the photos you want to keep on the iPhone with iTunes.

1. Ensure the iPhone is connected to your computer.
2. Open iTunes.
3. Select the iPhone in the Devices list in the left column.
4. Click the Photos tab.
5. Ensure that "Sync photos from" is enabled and choose the appropriate source from the adjacent pop-up menu. For example, if you imported your photos into an application (like iPhoto) you would select that application in the list. If you imported your photos to a folder (using Image Capture, Scanner and Camera Wizard, or Windows Photo Gallery), you would choose Choose Folder and then the folder in question.
6. Click Apply or Sync.

The photos are now synced to the iPhone photo application. Your backup will run much faster next time you sync, since iTunes will no longer have to backup a large Camera Roll.

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