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"Enter your passcode to trust this computer and start a backup." Every time iPhone is on charge.

After the upgrade to iOS 16.1 from iOS 15.7, with no other changes to my paired iMac, my iPhones now both routinely ask me to type in my passcode to trust this computer and start a backup. This happens whenever the device is put on charge, even if only to AC power, and the sync and backup happens over Wi-Fi. Why, and how do I put a stop to it so it goes back to the iOS 15 and expected behaviour of doing the sync and backup over Wi-Fi automatically and immediately when the device is put on charge?


I've looked around and tried various solutions, all to nothing. I reset privacy and network settings, repaired over USB, restarted everything, etc. It's still happening.

iPhone 13 Pro Max, iOS 16

Posted on Oct 31, 2022 2:20 PM

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Posted on Nov 3, 2022 9:59 AM

Upgrade to 15.7.1 or 16.1 causes the iPhone, iPadMini and iPad to require entering a pass code EVERY TIME to do a backup to Windows iTunes 12.12.6.1 The automatic backups are broken. Prior versions only required a one time entry of the pass code to trust the device (PC running iTunes) and then would resume automatic backups after a software upgrade.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 3, 2022 9:59 AM in response to sgucukoglu

Upgrade to 15.7.1 or 16.1 causes the iPhone, iPadMini and iPad to require entering a pass code EVERY TIME to do a backup to Windows iTunes 12.12.6.1 The automatic backups are broken. Prior versions only required a one time entry of the pass code to trust the device (PC running iTunes) and then would resume automatic backups after a software upgrade.

Nov 16, 2022 8:36 AM in response to Jaimito_November11

"....In my consumer opinion, it is an update that just cause inconvenience. Apple, please reverese that or allow to modify it in the setings or with the face ID. ..."


Everyone on here, me, Lawrence, are consumers like you. Apple are not here to read your request. You are welcome to do that on this link. https://apple.com/feedback

If the dropdown does not have your iOS version leave it blank and type it in the text of the feature request.

Nov 19, 2022 12:40 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

As mentioned before, the computer can be encrypted with FileVault and your password, and on top of that, the local backup is encrypted with an encryption password. In fact, this is more secure than Apple's iCloud backup, which is not end-to-end encrypted, so "law enforcement" can access your iCloud backup data, but will have a harder time with your backup on your computer.


For your other devices, can you check if they're on iOS 16.1? Maybe they're at a lower version of iOS 16.

Nov 19, 2022 4:19 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Lawrence, Apple’s own support page indicates most iCloud data including backups are not E2E encrypted. Is Apple’s own support page wrong?


iCloud security overview - Apple Support


Here’s the difference between *me* owning my data and Apple owning my data: if LE wants my data, they have to execute a warrant on my property that I will know about and I can challenge in court. If LE wants data from iCloud, it is much easier and I may not even become aware, especially if a court grants a gag request upon Apple not to tell me.

Jan 1, 2023 5:42 PM in response to Hayg

As it is obvious that you haven’t read the thread and don’t understand the reason for the change, here it is again:


Apple changed the way that worked because of a recently discovered vulnerability that would allow a hacker to create an unprotected backup of an iOS device without the knowledge of the owner, so Apple add a requirement to always require a passcode to be entered on the phone before backing up to a computer. This to assure that the backup was intentional.


If you want details you can find them in these two links:



Nov 24, 2022 8:58 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

Lawrence Finch wrote:

The reason it isn’t required for iCloud backup has nothing to do with absurd conspiracy theories; it’s because iCloud backups are protected by your Apple ID password and 2 factor authentication.

The reason it is required for computer backups is because there is an identified vulnerability that has been seen in the wild that would allow a bad actor to back up, and then gain access to the backup on a computer, as reported in the National Vulnerability Database→https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-32929
and as described in a “how to" here→https://theevilbit.github.io/posts/cve-2022-32929/

Essentially, any computer that has been hacked (which is roughly half of all Windows computers, and a smaller, but significant, number of Macs) can be used to get a copy of the iPhone’s backup. If the backup is not encrypted it is trivially easy to get most of the content of the phone. If it is encrypted, it’s harder, but, as there is no limit to the number of guesses of the backup password it is always possible to set up an automated process to guess the password.

And the reason just asking for it once is inadequate is because the hacker can run their hack after the passcode has been entered that one time.

This is all very convenient, as rationalisations go, but I fear that it strains credulity that Apple's backup encryption, well-studied and independently-implemented as it is by many third parties, is so weak as to be unusable for its intended purpose; if it were, local backup encryption would simply be impossible. Incredible, too, is the notion that Apple, a company that understands the case for keeping private data private, would somehow exempt itself from consideration in the event of an attack on its own infrastructure, where your backups are stored--backups that are, in any event, encrypted by Apple, but not by yourself--without giving the user a choice of a local, genuinely encrypted option. (In fact, your passcode does most of the heavy lifting in iCloud to protect a tiny fraction of the data, not your iCloud credentials; your iCloud Keychain holds sensitive keys protected in part by your passcode, but when disabled, the keychain is still protected in your backup by the device hardware key, but is then non-transferrable to other devices. Local backups are simply superior for data portability, which may be another good reason they're still useful at all. You could read Apple's Platform Security Guide, if you like, for all the detail.)


So if it's true that this behaviour is not ultimately beneficial to Apple's bottom line, and that this change is being made purely on technical merit, I hope you have a suggestion for how best to use iCloud storage without paying for it first. :)

Nov 24, 2022 12:28 PM in response to JayGreenstein

JayGreenstein wrote:

And forcing the user to type the phone's access numbers would change what? You simply write the malware code to ask for the password, the user types it, and they own the data. The phone's password does nothing, so far as protecting the data.


Yes, if someone who wasn’t planning to back up their phone was prompted for their passcode and they didn’t get suspicious then they would be giving away the keys to the kingdom.


Just like the people whose phone has been stolen, then fall for the common phishing scam: You get a text or email from “Apple” or “Apple Security” (or sometimes “Police”) saying your phone has been found and to click on a link to see its location. This is NEVER from Apple or from law enforcement; it is from the thief or fence to steal your Apple ID and identity. Delete any such message without responding to it. Apple never gets involved in lost or stolen devices→Avoid phishing emails, fake ‘virus‘ alerts, phony support calls, and other scams


Or the people who are told to send money from Apple Cash, Google Cash, Zelle, Venmo or Paypal and do so.


You can’t protect people from themselves, but you can give them a chance to protect themselves.

Nov 28, 2022 4:19 AM in response to markhind

markhind wrote:

This is everything to do with 16.1 because it didn't happen before I upgraded to 16.1 on my iPhone. Is there another solution as I need to "automatically sync when this iPhone is connected" every time I connect my iPhone to my MacBook Pro?

If you don't like being requested for the passcode then take off the auto sync checkbox.

This mainly only affects people who get the unnecessary code request when plugging the iphone in a power brick - the original text of the original question - in which case take off the Show when on wi-fi checkbox.


The extra security is here to stay unless a lot of people write to https://apple.com/feedback and I doubt if the numbers will stack up because most people like additional security when the evidence shows that data has already been stolen in the wild.

Dec 1, 2022 7:22 AM in response to StMiBa

StMiBa wrote:


And using the "It's in the name of security" excuse is a fallacy. By that definition of "security", we would have to enter a passcode every time we connected out earbuds or our magic mouse. Once I introduce my laptop to my phone, they know each other and should talk to each other without any intervention.

I guess you didn’t read my explanation of the security issue. It is FACT, not fallacy. Here’s a link to my post, that explains why you need to verify each time to prevent your backup from possibly being hacked by criminals→"Enter your passcode to trust this comput… - Apple Community


And it is ludicrous to equate data being stolen with earbuds or a mouse, neither of which contain any data.


Dec 8, 2022 2:00 AM in response to sgucukoglu

Looks like Apple are listening! Advanced data protection for iCloud means, among other things, iCloud backups will be encrypted. This is certainly good news. Details:

Apple advances user security with powerful new data protections - Apple


Of course, people motivated by economic arguments for local backups aren't helped here. But it would be enough for me, probably.

Nov 12, 2022 2:11 PM in response to JayGreenstein

Read the original question and how my answer addresses part of it.

If you have the author's combination of

  1. Show this phone when on wifi, plus
  2. Automatically backup

then it will spontaneously backup all through the day. That is and always has been a battery drain.

Couple that with the reported (on here) iTunes bug and turning off one or both if those options makes sense.

You said "... those of us who charge our phones via a cable to a USB port...."

ok, but we are not talking about that scenario, one might even say that is an irrelevant comment.

Nov 21, 2022 9:11 PM in response to JayGreenstein

So, due to yet another Apple screw-up, I was wrong when I said the problem had vanished. In reality, when the automated migration software said it had transferred my old phone data and settings to my brand-new iPhone 14, I believed it. But, it turns out that though the old phone didn't back up via iCloud, the default for a new phone—no matter what the old phone's setting was—is to back up on iCloud. I turned that off and the Mac is back to requiring a code to back up with every connection.


But that relates directly to the discussion of why the number is required at all, and is yet another screwup: If requiring a code when only backing up on the computer serves to protect the data on the computer, why does it stop asking for a code when iCloud backup is also enabled? Plugging it into the computer will STILL cause the phone to back up locally. Does the iCloud backup magically protect the data in the computer? And, they forgot to allow facial recognition to do that job—yet another screwup. It replaces entering the manual code when opening the phone, but doesn't work when the phone's verified owner uses it for backup? That makes no sense.


All of this crap should have been found both in beta testing, and their quality assurance accepting testing.


So the problems, as I see them:


  1. Asking for a password—and backing up—each time the phone is wire-connected to the computer, even if disconnected for only a minute and the phone has not been used since the last backup.
  2. Turning on iCloud backup turns off the requirement for the password on the computer.
  3. Facial recognition—which would solve problem #1—does not work for backups.

Dec 26, 2022 5:39 AM in response to tm6566

Apple changed the way that worked because of a recently discovered vulnerability that would allow a hacker to create an unprotected backup of an iOS device without the knowledge of the owner, so Apple add a requirement to always require a passcode to be entered on the phone before backing up to a computer. This to assure that the backup was intentional.


If you want details you can find them in these two links:



"Enter your passcode to trust this computer and start a backup." Every time iPhone is on charge.

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