iPhone 15 Plus stuck in “Preparing To Sync"

iPhone 14 (iOS 17.2)

Macbook Air M1 (macos 14.2)

I tried this (force quit MDCrashReportTool) and it did allow the sync process to continue. However, I do not believe this really allows the backup process to complete.

The "preparing to sync" process was step 3 of 5. Yes, following your suggestion allowed step 3 to complete, but then the backup process ended without running steps 4 and 5. Yes, a backup was saved. However, is the backup content really complete and useful if one attempts to use it to perform a restore? I have my doubts.

This is the only solution that's worked for me. Having the same issue, this is insane to keep doing everytime I need to sync my phone.

Hoping for a fix from Apple soon!

Thanks for this tip btw!

Why purchase iTunes songs if you can’t sync them to your phone. Fix the problem asap.

I put my iPhone 15 Pro Max on airplane mode. Syncing finished in less than 2 minutes.

Ron,

rsworden made a similar observation in another thread. Here it is:

“… (A few days ago) using Xcode I connected to my iPhone and clicked "Open Recent Logs". I could see a few dozen files, some very current and some from the last few days. I tried cleaning them out (Move to Trash one by one). When I went back to Xcode and went to Open Recent Logs again, the files had come back. I could not figure out where they were coming from. But if the AW is pushing *its* logs to the iPhone, that could explain it. Maybe looking at the log file names could tell us their source. …”

We could be off down a rabbit hole, who knows? But you’re right about one thing. It is a mess.

N-S.

All very nice and well, but all the proposed solutions that I have seen in 12 pages of posts, are not the fix I am looking for, temporary or not. I have apple watch, and whether you have one or not, this problem has existed for me since these last iOS updates,, 17.2.1, because I do synchronize my whole iPhone 15 pro max for movies, music etc at the same time. I make changes that I would like seeing reflected on my phone as soon as possible. It ran without a hitch until these last iOS updates., inopportune time of year because of holidays to get a fix out of apple, purely for this syncing issue, even though some might rely on it more for even business purposes. Mine are for purely pleasure, and I would expect , come the new year, given enough posts, that they will figure out what causes this issue, and either push something through, or include it in a fix update. Hang in there everybody, try not to dwell on this MDCrashReportTool, but do continue to report it, so as they don't consider it as a minor issue, and we get a fix. Have a good new year.

This is exactly what I mean. I've seen some people say that this isn't a big issue since everyone uses AppleMusic now, but countless people use it for what you said: music, movie, etc synchronization. Not to mention iPhone backups.

I also don't understand how some people say that quitting the MDCrashReportTool is a "fix". It's a work-around but people shouldn't have to quit system processes to use their devices. Hopefully this does get fixed soon as I rely on my music library everyday.

Hopefully this new year will bring better things, not just for Apple Tech, but for the world. Happy New Year everyone!

Thank you karstene69!! I could not find that MDCrashReportTool that was suggested above, so I tried your workaround, and it worked like a charm! Been fighting with iTunes for several months, thank you so much.

A reminder to stop saying "this solution worked". These are NOT solutions, these are workarounds. The real solution will be when it actually gets fixed, because quitting system processes and repeatedly unplugging and replugging cables are not solutions.

MaxClayton wrote:

C'mon Apple: my 2023 MacBook M2 pro and new iPhone 14 "just oughta work"! Fix MDCrashReportTool ASAP!

This is a user forum, Apple don’t read or respond to comments on here .

Try:

Feedback - iPhone - Apple

I am so glad I didn't update to 14.3.1 since someone said it broke the fix. If you are on 14.3, the initial sync time takes about 5 minutes before making any progress. Subsequent syncs (in the same session) often take seconds after the initial sync. Apple is still aware of the problem as evidenced by the question at the bottom of this feedback form: Feedback - iPhone - Apple

very nice it works but it seems to kill the synching too, will apple fix this?

Ron_NJ wrote:

I am squarely on the fence as to whether renaming the tool is a wise choice. Sure, the Sync or Backup will run successfully. However, no error will be reported in a popup when the process completes. Also, what other processes use this reporting tool that will no longer do so?

Yes, I’m sitting there too, on the fence. Windows users may have a different problem. Some malware disguises itself as the crash reporter tool.

Renaming or otherwise disabling the tool permanently means Apple will no longer receive crash reports for mobile devices. Perversely if the tool has a bug which prevents it from reporting crashes then Apple are not receiving any reports of any MD (mobile device) problems - so all is well !!

I’ve only had a problem with syncing music (I note others have had problems syncing other data).

If I deselect “Sync Music…” in the Finder everything works fine..

My solution (since I don’t like to use Force Quit) is to check “ Manually manage Music, Movies…” in the Finder and use the Music app to drag and drop (songs, playlists ) onto the phone. I realise this may not suit everyone in all circumstances

Ron_NJ wrote:

fantaisie-impromptu wrote:

The thread has basically narrowed it down to it being an AppleWatch issue. However, people shouldn't have to give up using their AppleWatch or stopping system processes to use the sync feature. I have an S6 so it seems that this has to do with multiple AppleWatch models.

Hi fantaisie... I am not certain I would call this an Apple Watch issue due to the number of reports of issues by non-watch owners. However, let's say you are correct and it is due to Apple Watch sync issues. Would you agree there are really two issues? The first is the sync between devices that raised an error. The second is the error reporting tool (MSCrashReportTool) that stalls when trying to report the error to Apple Developers.

-R.

Hi both, Regarding issue #1, I think it could possibly point to a Watch log and diagnostic data problem in the sync.

That of course might not have been the trigger in previous incarnations of the problem - something in iOS 17.2 kicked this off.

I’ve noticed posts that don’t mention a Watch, and posts that do mention a Watch; but I haven’t noticed anyone specifically say they have this problem but they don’t have a Watch and therefore the problem cannot be Watch related.

Unless I’m wrong again and missed something……..