How To Turn CDs Into Tunes for Your Phone with a Mac

1. Turn your CDs into MP3s

The first order of business is to rip your CDs into a format that your current and future phones will be able to play. That format is MP3 -- the most widely-supported compressed audio format around. The thing is, most people use iTunes to rip, or import, their CDs onto their computers. Herein lies the rub: when importing music, iTunes defaults to Apple's AAC format, as opposed to MP3. To set iTunes to rip CDs to the MP3 format, go to iTunes > Preferences on a Mac, and select the Advanced tab. In the Importing section, choose Import Using: MP3 Encoder, and select the Good quality setting (you can choose a higher-quality setting, but that will translate to fewer songs fitting onto your cellphone). Click the OK button, and you're ready to start importing your CDs onto your computer, by inserting a CD into your computer and clicking the Import button at the lower right of the iTunes window.

2. If you have an optional MicroSD storage card, insert it in the phone now

This step is only necessary if your cell phone supports external memory and if you have a card. If this doesn't apply to you skip to step 4. If your cell phone came with an external storage card, it most likely came in a separate plastic case with an adapter card. If not, the card might be in your cell phone. Either way, you'll want to have the card inserted in your phone so you have more room to store your tunes.

Many cases the card slot is on the side of the phone and has an engraving of a MicroSD card on it. You pull it open and you'll be able to insert your card there - these are hot-swappable (meaning you don't have to turn off the cell phone to eject the card). In this case, the MicroSD card slot is located near the battery, so you'll need to remove the battery cover and battery to get to it.

3. If needed, format the storage card on your cell phone

If you don't have a storage card skip to step 4. If you have a MicroSD card (or other compatible external storage card for your cell phone) from another cell phone, you may need to format the card to work with your cell phone first, before you try to save any music onto it. Before you start formatting the card, first save all the pics, music, or files you may have on it onto your Mac. You will lose everything on there when you format the card on your cell phone.

Once you're ready to format a card, stick it into the cell phone and find Settings or Tools (it's different on every phone) and then look for something along the lines of File Manager under the memory card. Under Options there should be a selection to Format the card. This process erases any existing data on the card and creates the folders and menu system that will work with your particular cell phone.

4. Connect your phone to your computer via USB

Once you have all the albums you want to play on your music phone imported into iTunes and your storage card inserted into your phone (optional if you have enough room for all your songs on your phone), it's time to connect your cell phone to your computer using a USB cable. Some phones come with one included, while others have it available as an option -- usually called the "USB Data Cable" or "Data Connection Kit." If your phone has a standard mini-USB jack, and you have a standard USB cable from some other device, that'll work too. Once connected, you’ll need to choose data storage mode on your cell phone.

5. Find the phone on your computer

When you connect a phone to a Macintosh, you'll see the phone appear in the Finder, next to your hard drive, called either Untitled or the name of your cell phone. Select it and you'll be able to navigate through your cell phone's data folders.

6. Open your computer's music folder and copy music to your phone

From here on, it's smooth sailing. First, navigate to your music folder. If you don't know where that is, and you left your iTunes music folder setting on its default setting, here's where you can find it on a Mac, iTunes defaults to putting your music in Music > iTunes > iTunes Music.

Next, Navigate to your phone on your computer, and look for its music folder. Double click that to open it. Drag and drop albums and songs from your computer's music folder into your cell phone's music folder. Or, if you prefer, you can copy and paste them. Don't worry; if you try to transfer more music than your phone can fit, it's not a disaster, you just get a message saying it all didn't fit. If you're particular about what music you want on there, drag one album at a time into the phone's music folder, so you can be sure your favorite stuff makes it on. You can always rotate more music into the mix later, by deleting the albums from the phone and copying over new ones.

7. Eject the cell phone safely from your computer

This part's important! Once the music has transferred, you can get away with just yanking the USB cord out of your computer and going on your merry way... but only up to a point. Eventually, you're liable to disconnect the cable exactly when some data is being transferred between your computer and your cell phone -- even after your music has finished transferring. The result is not pretty: all the data on your memory card will be zapped, including music, photos, videos, and whatever else is stored on your phone's memory card (although your contacts should survive, since they're on your SIM card or your phone's internal memory). To avoid this on a Mac, open the finder and look for your phone; click the eject button right next to it. Then it's safe to disconnect the cable and start playing your music through your cell phone’s music application.