Not all songs synch on iPhone 13 Pro

As previously mentioned, if a song is not ticked in your Library - and you have the Sync only ticked songs and videos option turned on, that will prevent a song from being added to the phone.

If that isn't the problem (and you do need to check), then the only other things I can think of are faulty songs and incomplete Syncs. There have been several reports of erratic syncing - I experience it myself (and yes, it's very annoying). See the response from turingtest2 in this discussion; https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250241615?answerId=250449601022#250449601022 and see if that helps.

As for faulty songs, until you have identified which songs are missing, it is difficult to check them in iTunes to see whether they play successfully. What you can try though, is to watch the Sync to see if any songs remain greyed out on the iPhone once the Sync completes*. To do that, click on the On My Device/Music option, as shown in the screenshot below (I've actually selected a Playlist on the device (~ Ultima #2) but the effect is the same. You can see Music just above my Playlist name in the left column:

In the example above, notice the greyed-out songs with the dotted circle. At this time, the window at the top of iTunes (not in the screenshot) is confirming that a Sync is in progress, so this means that:

• • 489 - Luminous Child is waiting to be added to the device
  • 494 - A Place To Be is waiting to be added to the device
  • 499 - Dibidy Dop is being copied onto the device at this time. In other words, copying is in progress, hence the circle is part blue (the tune is better than its title might suggest, but it's probably an acquired taste!)

Once the Sync has completed, if any of the songs are still greyed-out and have the dotted circle, it means that they have not been successfully copied onto the device. In my case, I try a second Sync, but often find that some (but not all) of the missing songs are then added, only for others that were added to now taken off.

Once you identify songs that haven't made it on to your device, play them in iTunes. If they play, look for anything that might mark the songs out as different to those that are on the device. I'm not optimistic that this will tell you anything, but it's all I can offer.

I simply accept now, that iTunes doesn't always sync as it's supposed to do. I'm not holding my breath waiting for a fix. I am also aware of Android devices that suffer from incomplete Syncs, using (of course) software aimed at the Android market, not iTunes (which doesn't sync with Android).

* Sentence edited by author after posting

CurdNerd wrote:

I am synching the entire library, so this is not the cause. There are no videos or voice memos,

I'm often accused (by my manager) of going into too much detail, but here's a textbook case where not providing enough detail has caused you to overlook something important.

---------------------------

So, let's go through this and hopefully I can point out something to you.

First of all, you didn't mention podcasts, which I had listed as a possible cause. Considering your frustration with the discrepancy, I think it will be worth your while to check, just to make sure.

But here's the really important point: sync entire library and sync only ticked songs and videos are not mutually exclusive; you can have both options set on without causing issues. Now, you may be thinking (but not mentioning here) that that's illogical, but no, it isn't. If you have both options turned on for a specific device, iTunes will sync your entire library - except, if you untick a song in the library. This prevents the song from being added to devices (such as your phone), or removes a song if it was on the device. It keeps the song in your library, but the song will not be played by iTunes in either normal mode or shuffle mode. Such songs can be played if desired, but only by specifically selecting them to play, one at a time.

Again, you may be thinking, what's the point of that? Well, I have two reasons why I use this particular trick:

1. 1. Seasonal songs: I have Christmas songs in my Library (some of which are rated as 4 or 5 stars), but obviously, I don't want them to play on my iPod (or in iTunes) outside of the Christmas season. I especially don't want them to play in the height of summer when my iPod is shuffling my favourites Playlist. So on 6th January I untick them all (I have them in a Playlist to make them easier to find) and at the next Sync of my iPod with my library, the unticked Christmas songs are removed. Crucially, they remain in my Library and on 30th November, I tick the songs again and when I next Sync my iPod, the songs go back onto my iPod
   2. Disliked songs: when I buy a new album I add it to my iPod which means that the first time I hear some of the songs may be on the iPod. If I dislike a particular song I give it a 1 star rating, which sounds counter-intuitive, but I only use the 1 star rating for disliked songs, which leaves a further four star options to use for favourites. Those 1 star songs go into a Smart Playlist so that they're easy to find in my library, and when I'm next performing library maintenance they can be unticked (or even deleted from my library). Hey presto - job done

Back to the actual discrepancy: as mentioned, erratic syncing has been an issue for quite a while now, but I see no prospect of Apple ever fixing the problem. But if this is what's causing your incomplete syncs, you should think yourself lucky. I have slightly fewer songs in my library, but a typical sync leaves me with a far greater number that are supposed to be on my iPod, but don't make it.

As I am writing this I testing a Sync to demonstrate my claims - but would you believe it, not only has every song I selected made it to my iPod - but the totals sill don't' match. I use Sync selected playlists, artists, albums and genres to manage my iPod since I don't have enough room to fit all my music on it. But look at the numbers:

and

How can that be I wonder? But I don't wonder for too long since it would be a waste of my time. I'll probably not resolve the issue. All I know is that I now have all the music on my iPod that I expect to be there. That's what matters to me.

The remaining 28 songs could be ones that you have unticked (unchecked) in your Library. Use the Songs view to look at all the songs. The left column will be a tick-box. If any song is not ticked - and you have the option to Sync only ticked songs and videos turned on, those songs will not be added to the device by a sync:

I'm not 100% certain, but I suspect that 28 may include music videos and or podcasts. Is there may chance that you have music videos in your Library, or do you have any podcast episodes in the library?

The Sync only ticked songs and videos option is on the Device/Settings/Summary pane, which is only visible when you have your iPhone connected to your iTunes Library.