iPhone 15 Plus stuck in “Preparing To Sync"

Hello,

I have the problem since iOS17 (still with iPhone 13 Pro) and Watch OS 10 (Ultra2).

The change to the iPhone 15 Pro and a complete reinstallation of the iPhone did not bring any improvement. The strange thing was that the "fresh" iPhone (without any apps installed, no backup installed) could initially be synchronized just as easily as an iPhone SE, an iPhone SE3 and an iPad Pro 11 3rd. This actually made it clear that the problem could not be due to my computer configuration, especially since it also occurred on another notebook and with another Windows user. Nevertheless, I have gone through all these options together with Apple support.

When I had only installed my most essential apps on my iPhone and paired it again with my Ultra 2, the synchronization went wrong again. Out of sheer desperation, I tried to decouple my Ultra 2 again and, lo and behold, the synchronization ran completely smoothly and all data (including diagnostic data) was synchronized again. As soon as I had paired the Ultra 2 again, the same mishap. This morning, Apple support also confirmed to me that there is a problem that is being worked on in this context.

My workaround to the solution:

1. Start iTunes on PC
2. Connecti the iPhone
3. Start synchronization and wait until the sync at step 2 "... prepare..." hangs
4. Disconnect the usb cable to the iPhone and wait until the sync process in iTunes is finished.
5. Reconnect iPhone (! Don't close iTunes in the meantime!)
6. Start synchronization again, now it runs through without any problems

My explanation: After every restart of iTunes, iTunes apparently tries to load the diagnostic data onto the PC during the first sync operation of a device. This obviously does not work (for me) with paired Ultra 2. Therefore, the "killing" of the mdcrashreport tool in the task manager leads to the continuation of the sync. It seems as though access to the diagnostic data is blocked by pairing the Apple Watch. (Just a hypothesis)

Why do I prefer to disconnect the cable instead of using the task manager? When killing the tool in the task manager, the current sync continues to run, but the next sync runs back into the same problem because iTunes does not transfer the diagnostic data or the mdcrashreporttool does not register as performed. If, on the other hand, you pull the cable, iTunes seems to regard the mdcrashreporttool as performed and does not try to pull the diagnostic data from the iPhone again at the next sync. I.e. As long as I don't close iTunes, I can always sync my iPhone without any problems. If I close iTunes, the sh… starts all over again.

Which way you choose is, of course, a matter of taste. A fast solution would be very desirable.

Apple: Please fix the MDCrashReportTool and IOS 17.2 update!

XComboy's solution worked on my MacMini using IOS Ventura and my 1 month old Iphone 15 Pro.

My Iphone touchscreen stopped working after it automatically updated to latest IOS (˜17.2) during the night. Apple support said I must restore/reset phone using icloud backup (other options did not work), which I did but I lost all my music which is not in the cloud---it is on my imac computer. My imac computer uses High Sierra (because I need legacy software that will not run on newer IOS) and iTunes 12.9.5.5. I could not get iTunes to "see" my I phone even after rebooting both the phone and computer multiple times and using the USB C/Thunderbolt port (note: when the iPhone was brand new, I was able to see iPhone in iTunes after rebooting the computer, etc, and downloaded my music). So, I managed to transfer itunes music to a MacMini running Ventura using my local network. However, MacMini was stuck "preparing to sync" all night, till I found this suggestion. I had to force quit the MDCrashReportTool from the menu drop down in Activity Monitor. The method to force quit MDCrashReportTool not obvious till I looked in the drop down menus. MDCrashReportTool only appears in the ActivityMonitor when trying to sync. Immediately, 50GB of music began to transfer to the Iphone 15 Pro. Whew! Very frustrating. Apple, please fix these problems!

I had the same problem with iOS 17.2 on iPhone 14 and syncing to iTunes on Mojave.

The solution was to Open the Activity Monitor app and Force Quit "MDCrashReportTool", syncing should proceed just fine after that.

Unfortunately it seems that process starts back up with every sync, so prepare to do this a lot...

For me, it turns out it was songs that iTunes could no longer find in my Library. The steps I took that led me to that conclusion was:

1. While my phone was connected to my Mac, I activated the "Show this iPhone when on Wi-Fi" in the Options settings.
2. Disconnected the physical cable connection between the phone my the Mac.
3. Performed the sync over WiFi. Once the synch was complete, there was an error sync message. I saved the file to my desktop.
4. Open the Error file and saw it was a bunch of songs that were no longer on my Mac but still showing up in playlists (and thusly were included on the sync execution).
5. I had to individually search for these songs and delete them from the iTunes library.
6. Reconnected the physical lightning cable, turned off "Show this iPhone when on Wi-Fi". Tried the synch with just the cable and it worked.
7. Lesson Learned: why didn't the physical cable connection synch provide a verbose error message?

I recently purchased a new MBA 15" (MacOS 14.2) and Watch series 9 and ran into this same problem. This seems to be related to syncing while Apple Watch is connected (Bluetooth) to the phone. Disconnecting the watch from phone, either disable Bluetooth on Apple Watch or power off the watch allowed for quick and complete sync with my MBA.

Further investigation seems to be related to "Focus" mirroring between Apple Watch and iPhone. I disabled Focus Mirror in the Watch App on my phone and sync has continued to work perfectly. Might be a coincidence and YMMV.

Update: Seems that "Focus" mirror is not related to the sync issue, however the Bluetooth workaround still works.

I found a discussion at MacRumors which identified this solution but apparently I'm not allowed to post a link to that thread. Credit to the folks at MacRumors for the workaround.

xCowboy wrote:

The solution was to Open the Activity Monitor app and Force Quit "MDCrashReportTool", syncing should proceed just fine after that.

Thank you! Can confirm this works for me on macOS 14.1.2 with iOS 17.2.

I guess the problem is fundamentally on the Mac side since it’s the Crash Reporter getting stuck, but it’s interesting that it’s something on the iOS side that’s triggering the bug, since the trigger is iOS 17.2.

Check processes in Activity Monitor. I found that com.apple.amp.devicesui(finder) and another process (can’t recall the name) were the responsible parties - bother were highlighted in red. After force-quitting, my sync completed PDQ.

fantaisie-impromptu wrote:

The backup now feature (as per the last time I checked, and if my memory serves me correctly) is paired with syncing. If I hit "backup now" it triggers the five steps, with it getting stuck on preparing to sync.

I do have the manually manage music box ticked. When I hit sync it also prompts the five steps, but this has the option of skipping the backup. (I always skipped the backup since I don't need that big of a slice of storage used on my Mac).

Based on my observations, whether clicking "backup now" or clicking "synchronize" still prompts the steps, and it gets stuck on preparing to sync.

I can’t explain why your backups work as you describe.. do you back up to iCloud or your Mac. ? Do you have the same phone set up differently on 2 Macs? Your phone should be associated with only one Mac, and not changed unless it’s a permanent change.

In any case, if the iPhone in the Finder is set manually manage music, then go to the Music app on the Mac and manage it manually. Manually managing music is not accomplished in the Finder; don’t hit sync. , you must use the Mac’s Music app.

The iPhone should be visible in the Music app sidebar. If it’s not there something is seriously wrong. Don’t click on the phone. Assuming it is there select a song in your library and drag it to the phone. And drop. That works just like a file copy, or just like dragging a song to a playlist. If drag and drop fails to copy songs to the phone then, again, something is seriously wrong.

Keeping trying, who knows when Apple will produce a fix.

Same problem with iOS 17.2.1 on iPhone 12 synching to iTunes on Sonoma.

xCowboy was absolutely correct... Open the Activity Monitor app and Force Quit "MDCrashReportTool".

Unfortunately, this does not seem to be a permanent fix, you'll need to do this every time you want to sync your iPhone. Thanks for the help, saved me a lot of time.

Hello everyone, I confirm that xCowboy's solution works! In my case I use 2 iPhones and with 1 of them was stuck in "preparing to synchronize" . I tried everything by deleting files from the library, restarting my iMac M3 and phone several times, changing cables, ports etc...this solution (Open the Activity Monitor app and Force Quit "MDCrashReportTool") worked! I waited for "MDCrashReportTool" to appear to force close and the synchronization started! Grazie mille

So - I just called Apple Support. We went through all the normal steps and it stuck in Step 2. When I selected "skip backup" it made it to step 3 but no farther.

Then - he asked me if I was using an Apple cord - I said no and switched out. Voila - it synced right away.

so, if you aren't using an Apple cord - try that. I hope it works for you too.

I've got an iPhone and a MacBook Air and the fix I finally found on here was to turn on Airplane mode on my iPhone.

Deleting the MDCrashReportTool made no difference for me.

My workaround to the solution:

Put iPhone in Airplane mode 

Start Music on Mac

Connect the iPhone

Open Finder and click on the iPhone 

Start Sync and wait until the sync at step 2 "... prepare..." hangs (it doesn’t give an error message)

Disconnect the usb cable to the iPhone and wait until the sync process in Music is finished

Reconnect iPhone (! Don't close Music in the meantime!)

Start Sync again, now it runs through without any problems

This is still happening on on a MacBook Pro M1 running Sonoma 14.2.1 syncing with iPhone 14 Pro, iPad Air 4 and iPad pro circa 2018, all running the latest version iOS. The sync will hang until you go into Activity Monitor and terminate the CrashReportSuportHelper process. Is Apple aware of this issue?

I have been struggling with this issue for weeks - originally, putting the phone into airplane mode would work, but then, only force-quitting the crash report tool would work. Curious, as I didn't have the issue with syncing my iPad, only my phone. I was unable to rename the CrashReportTool - so every time I wanted to sync it was a little annoying, but that added up and it just made me more and more annoyed...

I took a bit of advice from another thread and removed MalwareBytes - I only had a free version so I'm not sure it was doing anything... SYNCING NOW WORKS INSTANTLY EVERY TIME.

Anyway, as I said removing the security software did the trick, but I did try to change the options first but couldn't find anything useful in the settings. No Firewall settings or anything in the free version, at least. If there is a way to run Malware Bytes and sync, I would try it again I guess.

(MacOSX 14.2, iPhone 11 Pro)

I have been having this problem for a while, and have been force-quitting MDCrashReport every time. Annoying but not the end of the world, and since I couldn't find a way to change the name of the CrashReport tool I took a cue from another thread and removed Malwarebytes - a free version that I think was not actually doing anything - and now it syncs immediately with no issues EVERY TIME.

If you are frustrated try removing or deactivating your 3rd party security or firewall.