Can’t sync with iTunes after iOS 17.1.1.update

Don’t do the upgrades is a good decision. I’m unable to play any music on my iPad through Apple Music, because I refuse to purchase the streaming side. I own the music, purchased the music, yet unable to play what I own. I think a class action suit is in order!

I have been able to solve the issue as follows:

MAC computer: open the Activity Monitor found in the Applications/Utilities folder. In the app, search for MDCrashReportingTool. Highlight the process name and click the ⓧ icon. Select Force Quit from the popup menu.

The solution was presented by Ron_NJ Author - please see the following link:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255358449?sortBy=best

Having said all of that it still remains a software bug which Apple engineering need to fix!

same this is ridiculous. always forcing you to update things, yet when you do things break. this is why I typically don't upgrade. now I need to figure out how to downgrade my phone back if that is still even an option. IDK, because the Macbook Pro I sync with is older and has a TON of legacy music production items on it and upgrading it is NOT AN OPTION as it would most likely break everything I have been working with for the past 10 years............

I truly hope this is a bug in iOS 17.x, not a decision to cut off users with no prior warning from iTunes. I can confirm that High Sierra is compatible enough with iOS 17 to prompt a "trust" request when setting up a new phone — yet it won't display the iPhone as a connected device. (Apparently under Catalina or newer, the iPhone appears under finder. However the Apple support docs on syncing an iPhone to iTunes consist mostly of links to other documents, none of which provide specifics — hence my hope that this was not a planned break but a bug that will be fixed in a subsequent iOS update).

Ok this is still a problem is driving me mad!! I have talk through the problem with Apple they put me through to a senior engineer who confirmed they know of the issue but don’t know why it is happening. (Considering this has happened on older versions it’s a bit bizarre they can’t work this out…) I was informed it will be fixed in a future update so we have no choice but to wait OR become a millennial and listen to music like they do 😥

I have iTunes purchases going back over 20 years that I can't sync with my new iPhone in iTunes thanks to iOS 17. (Having upgraded from a phone that was unable to update past iOS 15.x, I had no clue the new phone would break the sync feature. I assumed, wrongly, that if Apple didn't want iTunes to work anymore they would have also cut off the Store, but that part still works — just not the ability to view my iPhone as a device in iTunes *even though* I selected "Trust this device" when prompted by the new Phone. What's more, in the past hour — prior to finding this discussion — I searched for more specifics about which versions of iTunes are compatible with which versions of iOS but came up empty handed. (The Apple support documents dealing with syncing to iPhones are circular; they mention that it may be necessary to do an update but then link to other support documents, none of which are specific enough to address whether the iPhone should even be visible in iTunes as a device in macOS Catalina or earlier. Of course we know that at some point, very old won't work with very new but it would be nice if Apple posted a table listing iTunes versions and iOS versions to confirm where the cutoff exists.) In my case, iTunes 12.x is confirmed not to work. The question is, does iOS 17.x sync with ANY iTunes version whatsoever — or only with Apple Music?

I am having a similar issue. After the latest update, iTunes gets hung up on on step 2 of the sync. After going through the usual checklist and having no result, I tried restarting my phone when the sync freezes and then attempted to sync again- and this time it worked. I have done this a few times now. It’s an inconvenient workaround.

I updated my iPhone 13 mini to iOS 17.2.1 and then tried to back up my iPhone via iTunes 12.8.3.1 running MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6. I first get the update required message, click install then get the installation failed message. Help!

I have discovered a temporary workaround which seems to work. 5 successful iTune sync's so far.

Configurations:

iPhone 13 with iOS 17.2.1

Mac Pro running macOS Mojave 10.14.6 (the newest that this Mac Pro desktop can run).

iTunes 12.9.5.5 running on the Mac Pro

Temporary Workaround

=================

1) Disconnect iPhone 13 from Mac Pro

2) Reset iPhone 13 by:

A) Quit all applications on the iPhone 13

B) Force restart of the iPhone 13

1. press/release volume up 2. press/release volume down 3. press/hold side button until Apple Logo appears

Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

3) Enter passcode on iPhone 13

4) Connect iPhone 13 to Mac Pro with a USB-A to Lightning cable

5) DO NOT select the iPhone on the Photos application that automatically opens. <== Important Key Step.

6) On iTunes wait until iTunes recognizes the iPhone, then select it.

7) Press the Sync button on iTunes.

8) Enter the requested pass code on the iPhone 13 screen

9) Backup of iPhone starts and then iTunes progresses through the Sync steps 3-6 for Contacts, Calendar etc.

NOTE: If I skip Step #5 and select the iPhone in Photos then the sync steps 3-6 hang and do not complete.

I'm not a millennial. Cassettes and CDs were the thing back when I was in school. However, I tired of the iTunes Store issues, not the least of which included being forced to re-purchase a huge amount of music because back in the early days of the iTunes Store updating one's email — not to be confused with changing Apple IDs — was enough to break one's purchase history. (And don't even get me started on DRM!)

In 2005 I bought an iPod Photo and straightened out my iTunes library and have left it alone ever since — in Snow Leopard! Recently I tried to get my library out of SL and into HS thinking that my phone should support it (per the tech specs it does) — but iOS 17.x does not. I then used iMazing (third party app) to port my iTunes folder into the Music app on the iPhone Pro 12 but my playlists are gone. (Sigh.)

So much for Apple's old marketing slogan: "It just works". When I finally get this mess straightened out, I will no doubt refuse to make changes to my music library for another 5+ years because that is how much I dread having to re-do everything as a result of "upgrading". (I upgrade as little as possible because of headaches like this! Prior to the iPhone 12 Pro I was using an iPhone SE 1st Generation!)

Maybe the millennials are on to something!

Many of us who have been using iTunes since its inception also have music purchased elsewhere in that library, including ripped from CDs, Amazon music purchases, etc. If the only source of music purchase for a given user is from Apple, then the entire history is there and there is no need to physically sync anything. If, however, tracks are imported into iTunes is from diverse sources over many years, that means losing the portion that was not purchased from Apple

Sooo for some reason what finally worked for me is leaving the phone plugged into my Mac, then rebooting the Mac while phone plugged in, then when I open iTunes it recognizes the iPhone and will sync. Only works for a day and next time I try won’t recognize the phone again and have to do the above solution again. Every day…… at least found a work around.

I have the iPhone Pro 12, technical specifications as follows:

Syncing to a Mac or PC requires:     

• macOS Catalina 10.15 or later using the Finder
• macOS El Capitan 10.11.6 through macOS Mojave 10.14.6 using iTunes 12.8 or later
• Windows 7 or later using iTunes 12.10.10 or later (free download from www.itunes.com/download)

The phone cannot be seen with iTunes 12.8 (High Sierra) using an original Apple cable with a direct connection. I have tested this on El Capitan with the same result. It must be related to iOS. It probably should be reported to Apple as a bug report.

I got on a chat last Friday and was told to speak to a senior Apple tech on Monday. If I obtain a solution, I'll post it. But thus far I can report that even after answering the Trust prompt and also "update software", the device doesn't show up — which also means no manual updates/backups via iTunes. In two out of three attempts, connecting the phone also triggered a prompt to download a software update, only to report that Apple's servers are inaccessible and that the installation failed. In my case I can't say how the phone would have worked with earlier versions of iOS because I only just got it (certified refurbished).

I am running Windows 11 and have the same problem, this has happened on older updates also I have tried all the usual hacks to try and fix but I am certain the problem is a connectivity problem which Apple need to fix