Safari will not load

As others have said, many thanks to harryhayes for the quick fix. I had a little bit of trouble finding the right path to the final piece to be deleted. So I thought I'd include how I got there. I have a MacBook Pro Retina mid-2012. Open your Finder window and along the top bar you'll see "Finder File Edit View Go Window Help." Click on Go. Select Computer from the drop down menu. Select Macintosh HD. Next select System (not Library.) After clicking System you'll see Library. Click that and you'll find the Private Framework. Click that and there you'll find MobileDevice.framework. Drag it to Trash. And Safari should be back and running. So to recap the steps: Finder>Go>Computer>Macintosh HD>System>Library>Private Framework>MobileDevice.framework. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you folks who helped solve this problem which was major.

P.S. I just discovered a quick way to get to Macintosh HD. Click the keys: Command+Shift+C.

Restoring the folder /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework/ from a backup made by TimeMachine the 11th of December made both Safari and iPhoto work again, including offloading images from an iPhone SE. Also iTunes works normally, including synchronization of music. I think it the "MobileDevice.framework" is necessary for these functionalities.

iMac, SO 10.10.5

I am on a Macbook pro. osx 10.10.5 - Safari broken after itunes update.

For a 'dirty fix' I just deleted, (moved to trash), the following file... MobileDevice.framework

this is located /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework

Safari started up again fine straight away and I haven't noticed any issues since.

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework

Deleting the MobileDevice.framework makes Safari work again. Thanks for figuring this out.

However, iPhoto is ALSO stopped working when Safari stopped working, and deleting the folder MobileDevice.framework did not make iPhoto work. Instead I used TimeMachine and restored the folder from a backup from 11th of December. It solved BOTH the problem for Safari and iTunes.

I guess the MobileDevice.framework has something to do with the connecting phones to the computer, off-loading images etc, so I hope this functionality is intact. Have not tried yet.

I believe you are in the wrong library folder. After you find Macintosh HD and open it, there are at least 4 folders: Applications, Library, System and User. Do not open that Library folder. Open System and you will find another Library folder. Open that and you should find the PrivateFrameworks folder. Open that, and you should find the MobileDevice.framework file. That is what harryhayes discovered as a quick fix. Move it to the trash, and hopefully Safari will start for you. I did not have to restart the computer.

When moving the MobileDevice.framework file to trash, I initially had some trouble. I couldn't drag it to the trash icon or just click delete. I ended up opening the trash file, and was then able to drag it into the trash. I like someone's idea of keeping a copy of it on the desktop. The best advice was to upgrade from Yosemite to El Capitan, but for now this has saved me for the weekend's work.

While the removal of this library file does fix the Safari problem, you may have other problems related to mobile syncing if you remove this file. It is a DIRTY FIX as Harry said. The true and clean fix is to update your system to at least El Capitan. There is absolutely no reason to be on Yosemite any longer. In fact, if you're still on Yosemite, you're vulnerable to security issues. All applications that worked in Yosemite should still work in El Capitan.

I was just chatting with Apple about this issue, which they are aware of.

They are recommending upgrading to the latest version of Mojave. "You shouldn’t have any issues after updating to 10.14.2. This is a recommended solution," said the support person.

I thought I re-installed El Capitan, but it installed High Sierra 10.13.4. Safari is working fine.

They recommend backing up all your data (not the complete system) before upgrading the OS. Here is the link they gave me to perform the backup:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201475

Hope this helps!

If your operating system is Yosemite, you may have been a part of a glitchy iTunes update earlier this week that rendered Safari un-openable. This is limited to Yosemite users. There are dirty fixes by removing library files. But the true fix is to update your operating system to a more current and secure version. Anything past El Capitan will do.

Hey all- thanks for the work around harryhayes! Genius! While it does work, I always wonder what else might be affected down the line by removing that library file. The problem seems to be isolated to Yosemite. So, updating OS to High Sierra (if you happen to have a recovery installation drive for High Sierra) corrects the problem. And frankly, if you're still using Yosemite, I strongly suggest you update at least to El Capitan, as a whole host of security vulnerabilities still exist in Yosemite. And those with a strong stomach can go all the way to Mojave.

Apple just released iTunes update to fix the Safari screw up 12.8.1.3.

I did remove <</System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework>> but the update replaced it. So Devices appear in iTunes and Safari launches. Even for us luddites running 10.10.5 Yosemite.

Thanks everyone. Happy holidays.

If you update to at least El Capitan, you can recover your passwords while fixing the problem at the same time.

@frankfromsouth pasadene

Check this read. It appears that it actually can still be downloaded:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250021949?answerId=250042032022#250042032022

No, El Capitan is not at the App store. After making a backup of course, you can go into recovery mode and reinstall the latest operating system that is compatible with your mac by booting and holding down Option-⌘-R (that should be El Capitan)

More details on how to reinstall OS at: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

This glitch is a Yosemite only bug that was part of an iTunes update earlier this week. The three options are:

1. Remove library file as per earlier in this thread.
2. Install OS later than Yosemite
3. Wait until Apple pushes another update to correct the problem, which may or may not actually happen.

You're on the right path LilyLu66. Backup first before making any changes to OS. Backup details here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250 - High Sierra is a good update if you do not have El Capitan.

I took the plunge and upgraded from Yosemite to High Sierra. (The High Sierra download was located in the Applications folder. There was no El Capitan download.) Since I had never backed up my MacBook Pro with Time Machine, I went out Sunday afternoon and purchased a Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2 TB external hard drive. (Very handy as it is small and gets its power through USB attached to computer. No extra electrical cords as on the older ones.) Took awhile to figure out how to format the Seagate for Time Machine, but there is plenty of help online. Got my Mac backed up and installed High Sierra, and all is well.

Even though I see Apple put out an iTunes update to fix the Safari problem in the last 24 hrs. (--see frankfromsouth pasadena), I'm glad I was forced to consider how important it is to keep my computer updated and also to use Time Machine for backup. I think I was gun-shy after years of frustration with Window PC's that often crashed or made things worse when trying to upgrade to the next OS. I was happy with my MacBook Pro and didn't want to rock the boat. Well I'm please to say that the boat is steady and the waters smooth after a rough weekend. As AnimalRadio encouraged me and others, I would follow his advise to go through with the upgrade.