iPhone XS and syncing to Photos/iTunes on MacBook Pro

I've been using Apple products for over 30 years and never encountered this sort of thing.

I got an iPhone XS 3.5 months ago and have synced it and downloaded photos and songs many times before. But it's been awhile since I've wanted to do it (6 weeks?) and when I plug it in I get continued beeping on the phone. I noticed Photos opened automatically and I can see the phone flashing in and out under Devices in Photos, causing the beeping. I am unable to select it and get it to stop.

In iTunes when the phone is plugged in, it does not show up (my theory is this makes sense because it's trying to connect through Photos first).

I do not sync anything to iCloud. I have logged out of iCloud and back in on all devices and apps.

I can't even disable the setting in Photos that says "Open Photos automatically for this phone" because it only shows up when the phone is connected and it won't connect—it's in a perpetual state of trying to connect!

I have rebooted both the phone and the MBP, reset PRAM, etc., and it didn't resolve it.

I am at a loss.

Any ideas?

I am just a few weeks beyond my free 90 days of Apple support. :'(

I'm on High Sierra 10.13.6 on my MBP and iOS 12.4.