Is iOS 17 compatible with itunes 12.8.2.3 under macOS Sierra 10.12.6?

I have had the same problem, found one solution, and am suggesting a second solution. The solution I used was to do a clean install of High Sierra on my 2009 iMac, connect my iPhone 15 running iOS 17, download (successfully) the update to iTunes, then restore my iMac from backups. Ugly, but it worked. Still cleaning up a few things. I was inspired by someone else in this discussion that found when they did a clean install of High Sierra to a USB, they were able to download the update. I tried the same thing and found it worked, so I thought I would do that on my SSD.

My theory is that if I had simply copied the updated iTunes app from the clean install on the USB stick to my existing SSD, I could have saved all the trouble in wiping and restoring my SSD. It appears that the only thing the download does for iOS 17 is to update the iTunes app, so I wish I would have tried that. I hope someone else can give that a try and post if it works! And save themselves a lot of trouble.

I recommend downloading iMazing, it basically does what apple won't allow. I tried it and it works. There is a free trial where you can transfer up to 50 files, after that you have to buy for around $40, but I reckon it's worth it. Cheaper than paying thousands for a new Macbook.

No resolution yet. Apple support confirmed to me this week that iOS 17 is not compatible with OSX High Sierra or earlier. Apparently the file system has changed since iOS 16 so it's tricky to patch and make it work now.

I have been so impressed with Apple for many years for standing by its customers... but it seems perhaps no longer. Not sure if it's intentional (i.e. making it hard to upload purchased CDs to your iPhone trying to push people onto Apple Music instead).... I would like to think it's an accident. I hope so.

Please Apple release a patch for this or at least be up-front about what's going on. Easy compatibility within the Apple universe is why I switched to Apple in the first place.

Solved for me - I followed the instructions from this thread: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/461301/mac-os-10-13-6-and-newer-mobile-devices-not-working-with-itunes-12-8-3-1-mobiled

I just did as the OP describes and now it works. Itunes recognizes my Iphone 11pro IOS 17.

The process seems a bit intimidating but is actually very simple, I'm not familiar with computer language like this but its very easy. I had to restart Itunes after the process

Imac mid 2010 - High Sierra 10.13.6 - Itunes 12.8.3.1

Iphone 11 Pro - IOS 17.0.1

Hope it can help others.

If anyone knows of a fix please share! My interaction with Apple indicated that they have no interest in helping Mac users with older systems. iTunes is no longer supported and you cannot revert your iPhone to iOS 16.

I have been a loyal Mac user for well over 20 years and despite updating to iOS17.1.1 successfully via iTunes, iTunes no longer recognizes my phone - even though apple Photos app on the same computer does. Built in obsolescence has become a major issue with Apple.

I’m running OSX 10.13.6 and iTunes 12.8.3.1.

I updated to iOS 17.1.1 via iTunes (iPhone SE 2020)

My iPhone is on 17.1.2 and I'm using iTunes 12.8.3.1 and High Sierra. I am able to sync music ok. The info from Apple was that High Sierra could still sync with IOS 17, not Sierra so IDK. I think your screen is glued on but if you're planning on keeping that iMac for a while it might be worth it to crack it open and put an SSD in there, they are so cheap now, and that model probably runs BigSur decently.

Hey there TC2301,

We want to be upfront and let you know that using a nine year old Mac will affect things, such as compatibility with new features/updates/apps/etc. This will be something you'll need to keep in mind going forward while using your current Mac.

With the above in mind, this article shows what to do next as you're not seeing your iPhone in iTunes: If your computer doesn't recognize your iPhone or iPad Please keep in mind that the steps include testing another computer, along with listing 'contacting Apple Support' as the last step.

Cheers!

Apple support is incorrect. I have High Sierra on my MacBook and my iPhone is on iOS 17 and connects to my iTunes.

I spent 4 hours in the Apple Store earlier this year and all they were able to do was get my old MacBook to High Sierra.

Another commenter in this thread pointed me to Xcode 15 and after downloading and installing this, my iTunes/MacBook can see my phone.

Apple “genius” bar folks aren’t computer engineers and are completely out of their element with this specific issue. Or, they’re aware and they don’t tell users so customers are forced to upgrade their MacBooks when they don’t need to.

I think the consensus is that this fix works. But something else is going on, people with the problem have something installed causing the problem. If you do a clean install of High Sierra and update iTunes it works without the need for the “fix”

Google xCode 15 download and scroll down a little

Reinstalled iTunes this morning and now I’m all good!! Woo hoo! Thank you for the information.

Frustratingly, this has happened to me also, no warning when updating my iPhone to iOS 17 that it will no longer connect to older Macs running older software. When iPhone 13 (iOS17) is connected, my Mac (10.12.6) tries to run a Software Update as below:

but that fails and gives the following error:

Not sure why it offers a software update only for it to fail?

I do hope Apple produces a software fix for this soon, so those of us who are still running older Mac software can update iTunes to connect with newer iPhones running the latest iOS.

I will provide this feedback to Apple Support:

Feedback - macOS - Apple

It's not just the latest iTunes (12.8.3.1), but that version updated with the special download for iOS 17. Before the clean install, whenever I connected my iPhone, I would get the window saying that a download was needed to connect to that iPhone, which of course would never succeed ("network problem"). Once I was able to update iTunes after the clean install on the USB, I'm thinking that updated iTunes app file could just be copied over to an existing High Sierra installation and then iTunes should work. I think before I updated iTunes I could still see the iPhone in Photos, though, and definitely after the clean install. I'm thinking the clean install was not required in my case for the connection to Photos to work.

The only workaround I found was to upload the songs from the Mac Itunes Library onto the iCloud Drive as MP3 files, and then download them back on the iPhone.

It sucks because you do not have a player to collate them or shuffle them, but it's a way to move your songs (stuck on your Mac) on your new phone.

I opened a thread for high sierra and the solution provided worked really well. someone posted step by step with links

Same/similar issue on High Sierra, and I opened a separate thread

NOT seeing iphone SE (2020) since iOS 17 … - Apple Community