iTunes (Win10) won't recognize my iPhone 12 Pro Max

iTunes won't recognize my new iPhone 12 Pro Max. I get this error sometimes:

"An iPhone has been detected, but it could not be identified properly. Please disconnect..."

I have the version of iTunes installed from the Microsoft store and so there is no "Check for updates" button available under help in iTunes. At first iTunes showed me a grayed out iphone icon where it's supposed to be. So I tried updating my phone to 14.3... now I don't even see that little grayed out iPhone icon.. I only get that error sometimes. Windows does detect the phone though. I can see the photos through file explorer etc.

My PC is an AMD Ryzen 2700X on an Asus Prime X470 motherboard

Anyone know whats going on?