iphone 11 ios 13.4 not appearing itunes

hi all,

i finally managed to sync my iphone 11pro on ios 13.4 to my early 2011 mbp 13 inch on high sierra.

Here is how it worked.

1- uninstall itunes from your mac book( of course make a backup of your library befor doing so)

then empty the trash. And restart and re install itunes. Itunes file available on apple website.

2- there is a security update on app store 2020-002 which i had to directly download it from apple website in order to install it and keep a copy Of the file for now. Install it and restart.

3- connect your iphone without opening itunes, it will ask you for a software update for itunes in order to be compatible with your phone. Go ahead and install this update as well.

and now you should see your phone showing on iTunes.

anyone not sure about the steps ask, and i will provide links to further explain what I've done and what is the procedure exactly.

cheers

OK, I made another experiment using my clone drive with the High Sierra. This time I did not pull anything out of the library. All I did is used AppCleaner free application and let it to remove all files. But before I unchecked "Protect the application" that part of OS. I restarted the computer, installed the iTunes that I downloaded from the apple site, (for some reason now the download page pops up in Spanish, weird). After the installation, I linked my iPhone USB to my Mac and it asked me to update the software, (probably the iTunes) and it took about 10 minutes. Then I opened the iTunes and it asked me to agree to terms I said OK. And my iPhone showed up in the iTunes application.

Hope this helps.

Before that I called the senor advisor to share the screen, and show him that is doable with installing Catalina, he apologized and said that Apple does not support these experiments, LOL They only support the latest OS, since the iTunes is a part of the operating system.

It worked !

So everyone if somebody is already on Mojave and can't install the old iTunes version like me, try first to just clic on INTALL when you have the message, then restart the computer and open iTunes : my phone was instantly recognized !

Thanks a lot for all the help that I've found here !

Download the latest iTunes from the Apple side, and install on the top of the existing one. After the 5 minutes installation (you may not see the bar) restart your iTunes and hook up your phone and it will be there.

See this for troubleshooting, If your computer doesn't recognize your iPhone, iPad, or iPod - Apple Support

I did not move anything or use maccleaner, just reinstalled iTunes over the old one. Worked fine. I would try that first.

Genooch, you have 3 options:

1. Get Catalina, it supports iOS13.4 and the syncing done through the finder, bye, bye iTunes.
2. Search for apps, that could help you the syncing process using the existing OS.
3. Wait for an update, stating "fixing bugs"

Well, first you need to check if you have any security update available in your app store update section.

if you still have a pending security update, you should download it directly and install it manually.

im not sure which country you are located, but in some regions the security update only shows when you are using a VPN.

So make sure you don't have any security update in your mac's App store.

Then do the thing with iTunes,( uninstall and re install) don't forget to restart your computer and empty your trash in each step.

And finally connect your phone without opening iTunes, it should ask you the trust and entrust question , and afterwards warn you about the new iTunes software update , make sure you do the update successfully, cuz sometime it will jump out of the process without succession( mine did at first)

and after wards open iTunes and it will show your phone.

its not that complicated, I'm not an expert and didn't want to mess with my computer but this was pretty easy and worked for me.

If you had any issues let me know, i will try my best to help you get over this issue cuz i know how painful it is not being able to sync your phone with iTunes...

Best of luck

Cheeeers

Genooch, I tried 2 ways on 2 iMacs and both worked 100%

1. I deleted the iTunes restarted and installed the iTunes, restarted, and it worked 100%
2. Simple and preferred way, Installing on the top of an existing iTunes, and after connecting the iPhone and starting iTunes it worked 100%

In both cases you will be prompt to update the software, apparently the iTunes.

I did not uninstall, I just downloaded the same version from Apple and installed it. I assume it treats the phone as new or something because it prompted me first run after install.

i also keep all my music files on a remote drive but I am not sure why that would matter since I only installed the app again and once installed it knew where the music was.

Hi Fred, yes this screenshot is what i mean.

mine failed at first but after i installed the security update successfuly this was sorted.

have u installed the latest security update successfully?

I just reinstalled iTunes over my existing iTunes AND IT WORKED!!! My iPhone XS was recognized immediately and is now syncing. Thank you again for this tip!

i had the same issue, and the only thing worked for me was to transfer my backup files to my partners MacBook which was running catalina and it worked perfectly. my own MacBook doesn't support high sierra upwards so i had no choice. i upgraded everything and no available updates at the moment but the phone only works with photos app on my high sierra MacBook pro.

Its a Pain not to be able to transfer and sync your phone with this version of iTunes.

Actually I have a partial good news. I used the older mac 2015, and when I linked the iPhoneProMax it asked me that the OS is and older version and needs to be updated, and I did. And to my surprise after 15 minutes download and install the iPhone icon appeared on the iTunes. I did not have to delete the iTunes folder from th eLibrary

I will be testing my main Mac shortly, with deleting the iTunes direcory, because it does not ask me the same question , like the older did. I am surprised that the senior advisor did not know about this detail.