Can I sync my iPhone calendar with exchange server AND ical on my mac ?

Question

I have been happily using my iPhone synced with my Macbook over usb via iTunes.
I have contacts and iCal syncing. I have a number of 'calendars' set up in iCal which allow me to view separate aspects of home and work but they all exist within iCal. iPhone just treats these as colour coded appointments (different colour for each ical calendar)
I really like this set up.
However, I just changed jobs to a firm where they have a hosted outlook exchange set up and I need to use the exchange calendar for work appointments and showing my availability.
I have managed to setup my iPhone to work with the Exchange server for email as well as in apple Mail on my mac. This has all worked fine. However, I hesitated when iPhone asked if i wanted to sync my contacts and calendar. I said no as I was unsure if my private calendar/contacts would be uploaded to the public work area.
In fact it seems that this is the least of my worries:
As I have read on apple support for iPhone:
"Note that after configuring an Exchange ActiveSync account, all existing contact and calendar information on the iPhone or iPod touch is overwritten. Additionally, iTunes no longer syncs contacts and calendars with your desktop computer. You can still sync your iPhone or iPod touch wirelessly with MobileMe services."
So I am really pleased that I didn't let it sync those and wipe out my personal data if that is really true.
But now I am unsure how best to enable myself to view and update the work calendar on exchange.
Also it would be nice to see work contacts on my iPhone.
Contacts
- although i have said no to sync contacts with Exchange in fact it looks like I can get contacts ok - when i send email from the Exchange account on the phone , it searches Exchange contacts on the server as i type in the TO box.
- also in Contacts on the iPhone I have a new group that has been created with the name of my Exchange account. The group appears to be blank when you go into it on the phone, but you can type in the search box and get contact details from the server just fine.
This seems workable for now for my purposes, although updating contacts is not going to be possible that way.
I'd like more info on that if poss but more importantly..
Calendar
- Unlike Contacts, no Calendar has been auto created for Exchange
- Unlike contacts, I can't see how I can view or search or create an appointment in my Exchange calendar on the iPhone
What is the best solution to this problem - I presume lots of people face the same dilemma. My initial research suggests that there are multiple ways round this but all of them look like workarounds with various disavantages.
Questions are
- Can't I just set up Exchange as one of my calendars in ical?
- Is it really true that I have to choose between syncing Exchange with work server OR syncing iCal with personal Macbook?
- What is the best work around for this?
At the moment I am seriously considering getting a separate iPhone for work and have that sync with Exchange fully although that seems a bit drastic and does not solve the problem of seeing work and home appointments on the same calendar.

Answer 1

Can't I just set up Exchange as one of my calendars in ical?
Only if you're running Snow Leopard and your employer will allow access (different than iPhone/mobile device access, so most likely not), but not needed - keep reading.
Is it really true that I have to choose between syncing Exchange with work server OR syncing iCal with personal Macbook?
No. It was true, but with the v3.0 software that changed - you can now sync your Exchange contacts and calendar over the air, and your Address Book and iCal via iTunes over the docking cable.
What is the best work around for this?
None needed. When you set up the exchange account, and choose to turn on syncing of contacts and calendars, you will be prompted to remove all other data, or keep it on the iPhone. Choose the keep option. Note that in that case, your personal data will not be uploaded to the Exchange server - the iPhone keeps them separate (although you can choose to view them in a merged fashion).
I have this set up on my phone (Exchange calendar along side personal and other calendars from iCal). Same for contacts. Works great.