iPhone 15 Plus stuck in “Preparing To Sync"

I have spent hours trying to figure out why I couldn't sync my phone to get my music, until I came across this note. It working perfectly now and it is syncing. THANK YOU. Not sure why this isn't getting communicated by Apple or fixed in all the updates we do regularly, but again, thank you!

Hi Macintosh,,, I am hoping for a fix one of these days, not involving having to fool around with Activity Monitor and quitting MDCrash report,,, but I would go for your suggested fix in creating the shortcut using Automator. I started using your small direction on how to do,, but if possible can you explain what we fill in after we input the killall MDCrashReport tool in the Run Shell Script box? There seems to be a lot of drop down menus along the way, and even the top of the box, where it shows Workflow receives current,, and "in" , and Image dropdown menu,, Not sure what to put in. Thanks if possible. If not, that's ok,, I will, when i need do the old fashioned way of force quitting MDcrashTool.

Here's a screenshot of exactly what I did in Shortcuts. If MDCrashReportTool isn't running it will just give you an error. Wait a minute and try again. The Show Alert action isn't necessary, I just like to see proof the Shortcut is running. Hope this helps.

Wow. It worked. Thank you and everyone else who figured this out. I've been working for three days trying every solution and workaround I could think of. Who would have thought it needed something so convoluted? Thanks again.

I have a new Iphone 15 and an older MacBook Air 2020. I am also stuck in "Preparing to Sync" and cannot find the Activity MOnitor which is recommended. This is incredibly time-consuming and frustrating. Makes me want my old hone back. Help please

Just installed the release candidate for macOS Sonoma 14.3 (2021 MBP 16" M1 Max) and iOS 17.3 (iPhone 12 Pro), and this issue does not appear to be fixed yet. Still had to force quit the crash reporter.

"It just works."

Note...spent 30 minutes with DEEP tech support who kept saying "changed policy, only was to do this is via subscription to "iTunes Match"...when I advised had ZERO issues synching my OLD SE (when this "policy" was implemented over a year ago!), she just kept saying, sorry, that is the way it is. Tried this fix, a bit of a PITB, and POOF, fixed it IMMEDIATELY...first time have had Apple advisors FAIL so miserably...

Who is aware of this issue, the support team or the Apple development team? If iPhone iOS engineers are aware, why the new update is not here yet? It affected millions of iPhone users, maybe a billion.

fantaisie-impromptu wrote:

Well everyone, we did it. If you go to the product feedback link, there is now a dedicated category asking if you can sync your iPhone to your computer, if not, it asks what OS version you are using.

Hey fantaisie-impromptu! Thanks for hanging in with this issue and for helping to disseminate info.

I realize anyone can submit feedback via the Product Feedback - Apple link. However, it would be helpful if you would provide step-by-step instructions of how you got to the "dedicated category".

Thanks!

-R.

My apologies. For me, I just clicked the product feedback link (which is the link you posted above) and selected iPhone. Here is the specific link: Feedback - iPhone - Apple

As you can see, at the time of writing, the category is at the bottom of the form.

fantaisie-impromptu wrote:

My apologies. For me, I just clicked the product feedback link (which is the link you posted above) and selected iPhone. Here is the specific link: Feedback - iPhone - Apple

As you can see, at the time of writing, the category is at the bottom of the form.

Thank you, fantasia-impromptu!

-R.

"...many people also don't sync their iPhones to their computers... so they're probably not aware of the issue"

Let's calculate how many are aware. Let's say 90% do not sync their iPhones with the desktop. The total amount of worldwide iPhone users is 1,46 billion. So 10% makes 146,000,000 iPhone users aware of this plus other issues. If only 1% of people (1.46 million) would submit the request to update and fix this issue, I am sure we would not have 25 pages with posts on this community site.

My suggestion to the Apple development team is to create an easy submit feedback in the next iOS 17.2.2 and an AI response of a temporary solution.

I was having the same problem trying to sync music from my 2022 MacBook Air to my iPhone 13. Thank you so much! You are a savior and a genius.

For the uninitiated, and this maybe obvious to most, but the activity monitor is on the computer and not the phone. I wasn't sure when I started. After searching the list on the Activity Monitor I clicked on "MDCrashReportTool" as cited below, and then hit quit when it gave me the option. Force Quit was also listed but it was not clickable. So, I ended up having to do that twice, but it worked.

And feel bound to repeat, a true SHAME that a DEEP tech resource at Apple told me "only way you can do this is to purchase 'iTune Match" subscription...at a MINIMUM, the FIRST level of support MUST have a database of issues, and SHOULD have advised about at least a quick fix...and I say this NOT as a "hater" since Apple's ecosystem backed by their USUALLY excellent support is what makes us an Apple household...

I was hoping and EXPECTING with all the users with this issue the "stuck on preparing to sync" would be fixed in 17.3. It is not. Both disappointing and showing a lack of responisibility for their customers.

Now, in the process of trying to fix this i have made it worse.

My phonwe and outlook always synced esily and as expected. Trying to fix this I ** two things: Unchecked sync contacts and tried reset sync. Both several times. When I rechecked sync contacts I get several possible erros. Tonight's : this will change more than 25% of you contacts on this phone. Add 22, delete 191 and something else for 6. I cancelled that.

Is it possible to get back into sync? I am reluctant to try one toime replace contacts on computer from this phone. Can I trust that?

Appreciate any insight. There are several similar threads on this hear so forgive me for posting more than one, but woul dlike visibility to fix this problem.

Thanks.