Updated iPhone to 15.2 now iTunes (12.9.5.5 ) won't sync

Have a MacBook Pro 2020 that has OSX 12.0.1 installed. With the help of a bunch of great people on here we were able to retain iTunes (12.9.5.5) and everything has worked mostly good. A recent update on the iPhone to iOS 15.2 and now the computer won't sync with the phone.

We have no interest in moving to "Music" from iTunes. The iTunes library is over 1M songs (use a lot of music for work). We tried going to Music before and it was a nightmare, so not looking for just update to Music responses.

Has anyone else had this issue? Solution? Will downloading OSX 12.1 help? Thanks!