iPhone 15 Plus stuck in “Preparing To Sync"

Same issue.

PC "Solution" is to open Task Manager (press Ctrl-Alt-Delete) click on iTunes under Apps. Then right click on MDCrashReportTool and select open file location. Change the name of this MDCrashReportTool.exe (Minoc suggests naming it .exe-orig https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255265364?sortBy=best ) I guess then hang-up is due to this crash reporting tool not working so disabling it just means Apple doesn't get the error sent to them - which they were not getting anyway because it wasn't working. That's it - works normal now.

You a real MVP thank you so much! I have been waiting hours before my iphone would finally sync. Killing that process literally makes it sync instantly.

THE QUESTION IS - WHY APPLE DOES NOTHING ABOUT THIS???????

we found out he same on the German community site

now the question

i have the itunes installation via MS store so i cann not rename MDCrashReportTool.exe in e.g. MDCrashReportTool.exeold

i tried i deinstaall MS verion to an Apple installtion

same bug

then reinsatlled itunes via MS store

as far as i quit in the taskmanager it synch complete

PS MDCrashReportTool.exe occurd in the task manager at step 3/6 after the backup from iphone is done and "waiting for synchronisation" in starts

@Apple

get the MDCRASHREPORTTOOL.exe fixed

in all versions:

on website external installation

on itunes MS Store installation!

#gettheitunesbugfixed

i have a iphone15pro 512 GB and I'm not willing to spend that much time for F*** workarounds while spending 1590€ for the phone!!!

PS Apple i spend already 16 hrs!!

for repairing

install, reinstall....

searching processes

Now the problem is known -> FIX IT

Yes! Yes! It works! I've been searching for a couple of weeks for this effective, albeit annoying to have-to perform work-around at each sync. I'd previously done everyting involving updates to Windows, IOS, iTunes etc. Curses upon IOS 17.x. Now I can get back to keeping my calendar and contacts back in sync after weeks of failure. Hopefully the Cupertino gods will get this soon fixed. It really is an embarasment for Apple.

As for me this solution doesn't work, I faced another problem - almost all songs on iPhone became greyed. After a few steps with support, iPhone totally deleted all grey songs, then Apple's representative asked to sync iPhone with MacBook, I've started the sync and of course it stucked at step 2. After killing the process I noticed how fast syncing ended and as result songs haven't been uploaded, only names appeared and they were greyed as at the beginning what means only metadata was uploaded.

A related sync problem I have also reported years ago … I am a photographer and sync approx. 20000 pics. I know this can take a while … fine. But syncs after the complete sync with maybe one new photo or even none sometimes take 30 min.!!! Modern processors should figure out in sub second speed that nothing or just little work is required.

The issue is that the backup doesn't complete. Have you reached out to Apple Support? The more coverage this issue has, the more likely it is to be addressed. I mean, backup and syncing is an important thing.

Thank you, xCowboy. This worked perfectly for me too using MacOS Sonoma 14.2.1 and iOS 17.2.1. Since I know I won't remember this for more than a minute, I created a Note with this information and a link to this thread.

MarkinJersey wrote:

Forcing MDCrashReportTool only worked once for me on Windows 10; on subsequent syncs, this did not work as it does not show up in the Task Manager list to stop it. Any suggestions?

Thanks

As I am no longer a Windows user, I did not initially reply. However, since no one else stepped up, I thought I would share a suggestion made by TelemetryBetsy, earlier in this message thread. As stated, "you may need to expand the iTunes task to see MDCrashReportTool".

Hopefully this helps...

-R.

Thank you so much! I just spent almost 24 hours running First Aid to try and get Sync to work at the suggestion of a very nice rep, which wasted a whole day for me and my hubs. Your post solved it in less than 10 minutes.

It was already suspected that the sync issue had something to do with the AppleWatch. However, were you able to pair it back without the issue coming up again? I shouldn't have to unpair my AppleWatch, because then I wont be able to use it.

Some mentioned that Apple never goes to this community and checks out on issues people are having. In my opinion, they should, why? Because since there are some issues with syncing plus others, means that QA did not catch it after an update of iOS or OS.

And since Apple relies on consumers as quality control, the tech support and senior advisors could save a ton of time spent on the phone and writing reports to the developers.

As far as the Apple users we could save time as well, finding a solution ourselves, by disconnecting the watch or other fix, which should not even be a part of the solution. It would be as simple as the newest update from Apple.

Maybe the moderators of this chat would agree or maybe not, at least I tried.

Girshon Rutstein wrote:

And since Apple relies on consumers as quality control …..

As far as the Apple users we could save time as well, finding a solution ourselves…..

I’m afraid Apple does rely on users to test its products…. It shouldn’t. But it does. Worse, in circumstances like this, the Apple Communities are used as a discussion forum for bugs - which is not their purpose. It’s a self help forum ie helping people get the most out of their Apple gear in the best ways possible, and in ways they might not be aware of.

End Users can’t find solutions or fixes for bugs. Forcing processes to quit, renaming apps, unpairing watches, unplugging hardware connections, restarting hardware etc etc are not solutions nor fixes . And this appears to be a bug in a process that reports problems to Apple. Oh, the irony.

A hanging sync is a problem that is squarely in Apple’s court. Not ours.

Just my 2 cents.

Stoker wrote:

Have used the Crash reporter fix,, but did not fix anything.

Stoker, keep in mind that other than Apple Support, nothing that any of us do will be a "fix". A force quit of the MDCrashReportTool is nothing more than a workaround. You will have to force quit the tool for every sync issue unless:

1- no errors are detected during the sync process

or

2- the MDCrashReportTool extension is renamed so that it does not execute

or

3- the MDCrashReportTool code is modified to return control to the parent process without doing anything else

or

4- Apple fixes the offending sync and/or MDCrashReportTool code once and for all

Good luck!

-R.