Easiest NAS for Apple products.

Liver

Supreme [H]ardness
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Oct 24, 2005
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I need a fool proof NAS to use with an iPhone and MacBook Pro.

Priority is to get pictures off the phone and computer to the NAS to save space on the computer / phone.

That’s it.

Currently I have a Synology NAS that I use for media, my pictures and back up. Apparently that is way to hard to use for my wife.

I don’t mind getting another NAS just for this purpose. The other option is to have a detachable hard drive, but that doesn’t have the cool factor.
 
I use a Synology NAS, but I can also see how anything other than the native Apple/iOS is just too much friction to use.

Personally I like the Files integration as it's gotten much much better (Synology Drive works pretty well), but there is no denying the sheer simplicity of just paying for more iCloud storage (which is what I do for the wife's account).
 
iCloud crossed my mind. However I live deep in the country and I have 2 DSL lines with a aggregate of 10/1 (yes both lines).
 
I guess, how is it to hard for her to use?

OSX - map drive? Or set her mac to backup to the NAS and she doesnt have to do anything?

The iphone, prob some app from synology you can use?
 
I simply use the DSphoto app from Synology. Seamlessly uploads all of my photos to my NAS. Can even do it over cellular. Literally dummy proof. And you can set it up to do backups at intervals, no user intervention required. Extremely easy once it’s setup.
 
The 'easiest' is going to be from QNAP. But it's also the most expensive option.
EDIT: Just to show you QNAP's level of software integration, here is their Apple specific splash page, I expect you can do your own research afterwards yourself:
https://www.qnap.com/solution/apple-users/

Synology is kind of the middle option in terms of cost/what you get.


EDIT: There is also support pages on most manufacturers sites that should help with this. Obviously you'd have to set this all up, but after you do, the NAS could be used seamlessly as a Timemachine backup drive - as one possible solution.
https://www.qnap.com/en/how-to/tutorial/article/using-time-machine-to-back-up-macs-to-a-qnap-nas-via-smb-3
 
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As far as Synology and Timemachine for Apple, I’ve been using it without any issue for years. Took 5 minutes to setup the machine for it and a few minutes to set up the Synology part. I’ve backed up from it numerous times also, without any issue.
I am sure Qnap can do something similar.
 
I use a Synology NAS, but I can also see how anything other than the native Apple/iOS is just too much friction to use.

Personally I like the Files integration as it's gotten much much better (Synology Drive works pretty well), but there is no denying the sheer simplicity of just paying for more iCloud storage (which is what I do for the wife's account).
I setup a Synology for my father/mother, even has backup capabilities. The longest part of the setup was the old Mac mini I was trying to sync with.
 
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