iPhone 15 Plus stuck in “Preparing To Sync"

BobUlius wrote:

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.

Are you using iTunes on a PC.?

if so,I think you guys on a mixed environment (iPhone and iTunes on a PC with Outlook ) are having the worst of it.

I wouldn’t trust anything to work as you expect

I just updated my Mac, AppleWatch, and my iPhone is updating right now. I'm not usually one to complain about these sorts of things but I can't get my LogicProX exports to my music library... on a 2k$ machine... I'm hoping this update resolves the issue, because to be frank, this is starting to get ridiculous.

Update: It didn't work.

I just tested the syncing again, it APPEARS that the sync did work (BUT it took 5 minutes (I timed it)). Not a complete fix if it truly takes that long, but it's something. I'll keep testing it to make sure though.

I have been experiencing this problem for well over a year, not only with my iphone but my ipod(s) as well. There are little things that can be done on my end to fix it but I have to do it every time. What is taking so long with the 'apple engineers and them fixing this? I have received coutless updates for my phone and a few for the ipods, but you cant seem to fix this problem. What the ****?

Just tried again after a few hours as your feedback came in. This time it was hanging about 5 Minutes and then sync worked again. However, now it is syncing everything ... a bit erratic. And a second time trying takes only about 2 seconds to sync. so it works for me even if it is not smooth.

I have the SE, 2020, btw.

I think it’s always been the case that the backup step of the sync is omitted if a recent backup already exists.

When trying various settings and repeatedly syncing I noticed the time stamp on the “Last Backup….” does not change. I don’t think it makes any difference whether you back up to iCloud or your Mac.

And after the OS and iOS update sometimes Step 2 Preparing ….. takes a long time (several minutes) and sometimes it doesn’t .

Fokingjr wrote:

First thing I noticed was an album duplicated as both a compilation and artist.

Hey Fokingjr,

Likely the physical album was not duplicated. Rather, there are two references (pointers) to the same album.

-R.

I don't know if this will help but I have just discovered, completely by accident, that if you click the Apple icon/Go/Airdrop my iPhone 15 Pro shows up in the sidebar. When I clicked on it the whole iPhone screen shows up. I tried an experiment by going to Music/Playlists and selecting a playlist that I didn't have on my iPhone..... and it worked! The playlist was on my iPhone. I will be using 'Airdrop' from now on the sync my iPhone...

There is a solution, but Apple removed my post (I understand why). I can confirm that the solution worked without any user intervention. My advice, as Apple supports would be if trouble shooting with them, is that the first step is to make sure your devices are up to date. The ‘up-to-date’ that they are now may not fix the issue, but when you’re aware that there is a new software update for iOS, make sure you do and try the Sync again to see if the issue is resolved.

There is a solution, but Apple removed my post (I understand why). I can confirm that the solution worked without any user intervention. My advice, as Apple supports would be if trouble shooting with them, is that the first step is to make sure your devices are up to date. The 'up-to-date' that they are now may not fix the issue, but when you're aware that there is a new software update for iOs, make sure you do and try the Sync again to see if the issue is resolved.

There is a solution, but any reference I keep making to it Apple keep deleting. There is a fix coming, for this incredibly frustrating bug, that seems ti be affecting many.

Mod's-just leave my post to give people peace of mind.

I'm glad the workarounds have worked, but as others have asked, is Apple paying attention to this bug? We're up to 33 pages of comments. I know there are literally tens of millions of iPhones in circulation, so this is a tiny fraction of users, but still ... 33 pages? All of which are pointing out the same flaw? Cupertino, are you listening?

Apple still has a specific option for reporting this problem on Feedback - iPhone - Apple. So at least they are still aware of it. Music now syncs, just not with the cover photos or correctly. So, it's basically still broken.

I'm experiencing the same issue on my M1 MacBook Pro and iPhone 15, even though all devices are running the latest operating systems. It's a shame that such a bug exists since months, especially considering it would have been unheard of 15 years ago.

It can take up to five minutes for the initial sync. (I timed it, and the timing is consistent). It should definitely be shorter though. Artwork has issues. I use custom artwork for some of my albums. The changes on my Mac are not reflected on my iPhone. There are all sorts of sync issues.