iPhone won't sync photos or music after iMac update to Big Sur

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Level 1

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iPhone won't sync photos or music after iMac update to Big Sur

My iPhone 11, running iOS 15.2, will not sync with my iMac recently updated to Big Sur (Mac OS 11.6.1). It appears to backup the iPhone fine, but will not proceed further than reading the Photos file - just a moving hatch that will never complete. The Photos in my iPhone don't sync, and neither does the music that I have selected. I cannot eject the iPhone in Finder, and have to unplug it - but the iPhone in Finder keeps spinning and won't disconnect. When I updated to Big Sur, there was an Apple patch that showed up briefly that alluded to potential help connecting - but I have been unable to find (and download) that patch again. Any help?

iMac 27″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Jan 1, 2022 11:25 AM

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Answer 1

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steve626

Level 6

11,237 points

Jan 1, 2022 12:40 PM in response to Drogchute

See if this helps at all:

Boot into Safe Mode, by shutting down fully, then start up holding the shift key down, waiting until the login screen appears, which may be some ~ minutes. After logging in via Safe Mode, then shut down, and restart normally.

Check System Preferences Software Update for that device update. It is needed to properly support your iPhone.

If it is not showing in Software Update, connect the phone again and see if that makes the update show up again. This time execute the update when it appears.

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Answer 2

Drogchute Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 15, 2022 10:08 AM in response to steve626

Thank you for your response. Sorry, I was traveling and away from my iMac, which is the Mac I use to update my iPhone.

I tried the steps above, but unfortunately they didn't work. I have updated to Big Sur 11.6.2, but again, this did nothing for my issue. I have also updated my iPhone to iOS 15.2.1

When I sync my phone, it appears to back up my iPhone to the iMac, but then just sits and does nothing when trying to sync my photos, and doesn't even get to the music sync. My photos are in my Photos Library.photoslibrary file on my iMac, so they should be easily accessed. But the sync screen just shows a moving crosshatch, and nothing happens, no matter how long I wait. I used to be able to delete the "Photos Cache" in older OS versions, and that would allow a new update - but can't find the iPhone Photos Cache now.

If I click on "skip photos update" again nothing happens, except I cannot eject the iPhone anymore - I have to physically shut down the iMac and restart it to clear the iPhone sync.

Any new suggestions? Thank you for any help you can provide.

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iPhone won't sync photos or music after iMac update to Big Sur

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