Why does it keep saying I need a software update when I connect my iPhone 11 to my MacBook Pro?
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.6
With certain combinations or modern MacOS and modern iOS, your Mac needs a software update to communicate properly with the phone. It is not an accident that is when it alerts you.
I have tried to update. Phone says it is up to date. When I try to update, that it asks me to do when I attach it to my while Mac, it downloads, but when it trys to update, it stops and says it can't. Now what? Luckily, I can see my phone in finder, but it's annoying to get the message each time I attach to charge.
It's the Mac that needs the update, not the phone.
Well, I don't know how to update the Mac when it says it's fully updated. It's on auto check, and I just asked it to check again. I updated to the new iOS 12.6 a few days ago.
That advisory has a link to the update:
The file is small and simply patches iTunes on macOS 10.14 and older so it can work with the new iOS version. It will NOT change you computer's macOS version. I get it on my Mojave 10.14 Macs every time a new major upgrade oof iOS or iPad OS comes out.
You plug the phone into the Mac again, and when the Mac tells you the Mac needs a software update, you suspend your disbelief and follow through with the update on your Mac.
If you never plugged your phone into your Mac, both would be completely up-to-date, as reported.
My MAC is a 2020. I have hit that button many times and I'm tired of it. I'm looking for a fix. It downloads then starts to update but then says it is unable to update. This is a new problem. I don't usually charge using my Mac so I don't know exactly when it started, but my guess is within the last 3-4 months.
<< says it is unable to update >>
Try the same process in Safe Mode, where no third-party add-ons can interfere with the software update process.
Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support
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Exactly the same problem, and Safe Mode doesn't change anything : when I plug my iPhone by USB to my iMac, I have the same boring window… It's obviously a bug. My marvelous iMac 27' late 2013 works well after nearly a decade (with a SSD in place of the fusion drive), but I can't hope an OS update : I stay at Catalina for eternity ! And so this bug :) ?
Please read this Discussion for a description of the problem and the workaround that solves it:
"Your iPhone needs to update software to connect to your Mac"
Why does it keep saying I need a software update when I connect my iPhone 11 to my MacBook Pro?
