Is it possible to sync music and podcasts between an iPhone and Mac, but exclude Apps?
The point is that they can be restored much quicker from your Mac to an iOS device than downloading them again. This may (of course) depend on the number of apps you have on your iOS device and which sizes they are. (Many games and navigation apps are way over 1GB each.)
To prevent app syncing you would just uncheck this box in iTunes while you have selected your iOS device in the sidebar and chosen the Apps category as shown in this screenshot.