Level 1

11 points

Syncing iPhone 11 Pro Max or iPad Pro 12.9 2020 to new MacBook Air M1 kills 3rd Party apps on those Devices.

Tl:dr at bottom.

Initial Issue

When I sync my iPhone 11 Pro Max (running Latest 14.3 iOS) and my iPad Pro 12.9 2020 (running latest 14.3 iPadOS) to my 4-day old MacBook Air M1(Running Latest version of MacOS Big SUR) it essentially kills 3rd Party apps on my devices other than the MacBook Air. I can try and open a 3rd Party app and unless already opened prior to Sync and still open in background it will start to open for a second and then return to home screen as if nothing happened.

Troubleshooting

I originally thought it was a issue with my iPhone and I troubleshooted as such. While I am a IT Admin I am no Apple Genius and am new to the Ecosystem after having avoided it my whole life until this year. Now I am in deep. I do, however, have good troubleshooting and googling/forum searching skills. I did the following to troubleshoot what I believed at the time was an iPhone issue;

Power on and Off Multiple times throughout all other Troubleshooting Steps.
Delete and reinstall the apps (Even though it was all 3rd Party Apps)
1. This didn’t work either. The App deleted fine but when I tried to reinstall It would download ¾’s of the way and then go right back to as if I never clicked download.
Reset All Settings.
Restored from an iCloud Backup by Resetting Phone Completely and used my Backup to Setup Phone.

Troubleshooting and other Info

Submission was too long with all the troubleshooting steps I have taken and my Appointment with Apple Repair Specialist. So all that was put into the Additional Text, for anyone wanting to really get an Idea of what's going on I would suggest reading it.

Please Help

Hoping for some suggestions as searching for hours online has brought me no results and I can't find a single case of this otherwise. I have verified it is a genuine MacBook Air via its Serial number and can't think of anything else to try. This is my very first time with a Mac at all and feel out of my element. Any help, tips, guidance, or anything is appreciated.

Tl:dr

When plugging iPhone or iPad into MacBook air and Syncing in Finder App it keeps me from opening third party apps. All major troubleshooting steps taken and still it's happening. Thought it was phone at first now closed in on MacBook and resetting it. Hoping for some help.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Dec 17, 2020 7:40 AM

Top-ranking reply

Laurent_dms

Level 1

21 points

Posted on Dec 21, 2020 11:25 AM

Well, I tried something and it is working for 2 days so far (crossing my fingers)

I checked that my old pc was dismissed from the list in the apple id (tap on your avatar in settings)
I made a last backup
I restored my iPhone.
I restored my last backup
I made a sync AS SOON AS the iphone was starting up and just BEFORE 3rd apps start to reinstall (all grey)

For my watch, apps didn’t launched at all but I just used the watch app on phone to unload/reload them from the list.

Worked for my ipad too.

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29 replies

Dec 30, 2020 8:35 PM in response to DrEagleTalon

Apple did escalate my case. Still waiting for Engineering to respond. The holidays seem to be slowing things down a bit.

Here are links to all the related forum posts that I'm aware of.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252187935

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252182225

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252146674

[Link Edited by Moderator]

jaysonng

Level 1

40 points

Jan 13, 2021 12:45 AM in response to Laurent_dms

I just tried this. it worked for a few minutes only and some apps downloaded fine after syncing. but newer apps being downloaded doesn't even turn solid (stays gray).

ugh. another factory reset then.

DrEagleTalon Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 17, 2020 7:58 AM in response to DrEagleTalon

It Appears there is someone who had a similar issue years ago. No answer to his as well.

Why won't my 3rd party apps open? - Apple Community

Dec 21, 2020 11:52 AM in response to CodeMonkeyZimbu

Oh and yes i also tried to restart phone. Sync again and still working 🤞

Dec 23, 2020 4:17 AM in response to woodmeister50

Did you fix it ? My tip is still working, no sync problems, I can update and install new apps too.

DrEagleTalon Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 30, 2020 6:47 PM in response to DrEagleTalon

Still Having Issue

DrEagleTalon Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 30, 2020 6:49 PM in response to Laurent_dms

Still Working?

Dec 30, 2020 7:55 PM in response to DrEagleTalon

Yes working fine since the tips I tried. Cost nothing to give it a try?

Dec 30, 2020 8:40 PM in response to CodeMonkeyZimbu

Apparently external links aren't allowed.. There's another post on Reddit and another on MacRumors

[Edited by Moderator]

DrEagleTalon Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 17, 2020 7:44 AM in response to DrEagleTalon

Additional Text File as I had some Issues with it. This is a continuation and more info on the issue.

Issues Continue

Phone worked All Day until I got home and again synchronized with my MacBook. Same issue. Same results. I still didn’t suspect the MacBook because of the time between Sync and finding the issues occurring due to me only having used Podcast app during work.

Issue Worsens, Boot Loop

After that time, I Restored from Backup I had just made on MacBook and during the Process where the iPhone goes to Reboot with Apple Logo and Progress Bar it got ¾’s of the way through and stopped and rebooted and then rebooted over and over From Black Screen to Apple Logo back to Black Screen and repeated for a long time.

I wasn’t sure if I should stop it by unplugging it but that seemed like a worse option and just in case it was working or going to work. I looked for help online and got on Apple Support Chat and they said to unplug, power off by quickly pressing Volume Up then Volume Down then holding in the Side button until Apple Logo Appeared.

Once on restore screen I plugged it into my Windows 10 Laptop running Windows 10 Version 1909 on a HP EliteBook 745 G6 since I had suspicions of the MacBook. This laptop has the most recent version of iTunes installed (I think 12.0.11?).

This was my daily driver laptop and what I synchronized my iPhone with prior to getting my first MacBook recently and I still used it for my Job. When I plugged it into the PC iTunes immediately recognized it was in restore mode and asked if I wanted to Restore or Restore from Backup.

I chose to just reset it and start from nothing as I didn’t trust my backups due to corruption. It failed and asked to try again and after rebooting the PC and the Phone I tried again to no avail. It was still stuck in a boot loop.

Best Buy Geek Squad Appointment

I made an appointment at nearest iPhone Repair shop listen on Apples Support Site after creating a case and it was a best buy 45 minutes away (Rural Midwest). Getting there they got my iPhone reset in a jiffy and were extremely nice and helpful. I told them what had been going on and the tech thought it was iPhone but had never heard of the problem. I told him I thought it might have something to do with MacBook but couldn't confirm. He didn't think so since it was new and said it could be my iCloud account. He offered to try and get my Phone replaced as it was still under warranty. I declined as I wanted to ensure it was my Phone before going through the hassle.

Focusing on MacBook and Verifying Source of Issue

Returning home, I decided to dig deeper and try some things out. Synced my wife's iPhone 11 and BOOM, same issue. We restored from Backup form iCloud made moments before the syncing. Did it with my new iPad Pro 12.9 2020 and BOOM same thing. Restored all the same and then tried it on backup iPhone 6 S and BOOM Nothing happened. It was fine. No issues. It has all the same apps and content as my other iPhone and iPad and nothing bad has happened to it yet. I am positive it's the MacBook.

During all this it has caused havoc with setting up Apple Watch 5 44mm over and over and my Air Pod Pros and Apple TV 4k are the only things not giving me problems at this point.

What I am doing now

I am currently in process of resetting MacBook Air by Erasing Disk in Disk Utility after booting into "Restore Mode" or whatever Apple calls it and reinstalling BigSur. I will see how it see if I can Sync after this is done.

Dec 18, 2020 11:33 PM in response to woodmeister50

I just bought a Mac mini M1 and I got exactly the same problem. I was on windows 10/iTunes just before. When I sync with Big Sur, all 3rd apps won't open. As soon I sync with Windows, It works fine (even without restarting anything just switching connection), all my apps are opening.

Could it be the M1 chip? I don't want to erase all if it won't change anything. I called Apple support and they don't even know what it could come from...

I will keep on sync on Win 10 until they fix it or if someone find a solution.

Dec 18, 2020 11:40 PM in response to DrEagleTalon

I got the same problem after I bought my Mac mini M1, and sync my iPhone 11 or iPad (originally from Win 10). can't open, install or reinstall any 3rd app. I called support but couldn't find any clue about it. seemed to be a new (and isolated?) problem...

I tried everything from restoring iPhone, reinstalling Big Sur, to all kind of backups... Nothing worked. The only way to keep having apps running is to sync again with win 10. It works instantly, even you switch from win to Mac directly. I will wait until they find a fix, I bet erasing everything won't work. Tell me if you find something else. I keep testing soft solutions.

Dec 20, 2020 8:47 AM in response to woodmeister50

2014 MacBook Pro with macOS 11.1

2020 M1 MacBook Pro with macOS 11.1

iPhone 6 with iOS 12.5

iPhone 12 Pro Max with iOS 14.3

Syncing either of the iPhone to the M1 MBP results in the apps crashing.

Syncing either of the iPhones to the 2014 MBP has no issues.

Tried resetting, logging out, wiping phones, etc. The iPhone 6 is basically disposable, so I can try just about anything on that device.

Got the iPhone 12 so messed up trying to test things last night for Apple Support that I had enter recovery mode and completely reinstall iOS and the Firmware (which I did via the M1). Worked fine after reinstall while connected to the M1. Did a sync after it was up and running and got the same error with apps crashing.

Apple had me try using a new user account on the M1 MBP (which was not logged in to iCloud). Same results. Apps crash on launch.

Dec 21, 2020 11:32 AM in response to Laurent_dms

After the rest of the apps install, have you tried doing another sync, and have you tried rebooting your phone?

I did a very similar process when I had to restore my iPhone on the M1, and it appeared to be working properly, but then I unplugged my phone and reconnected it to do another sync and it started failing again.

You also have to test with apps you haven't run recently, or reboot your phone. Any apps that were running or very recently run when you sync appear to keep working until you reboot, or until they've been closed long enough.

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Syncing iPhone 11 Pro Max or iPad Pro 12.9 2020 to new MacBook Air M1 kills 3rd Party apps on those Devices.