iTunes stuck at 'sync' stage after iPhone 12 Pro updated to IOS 7.2

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...

As noted in this thread, using the Activity Monitor to force quit the MDCrashReportTool will get the Sync process to complete. This step will need to be done every time Sync starts up.

In another thread, users are discussing the renaming of the tool so the tool never runs and therefore, an intervention (force quit) is not required to complete the Sync process.

Meanwhile, for those waiting for Apple to correct the issue, you should know that the MDCrashReportTool has been in existence since 2009 and the issue being discussed has been around for years, release after release.

While all of us would love to have this resolved by Apple developers, after all this time, the reality is there is little incentive for them to do so. Sadly, I do not feel this will ever happen (IMHO).

-R.

After updating to the latest ios 17.21, my iphone 15 Pro no longer would sync with iTunes. It would stall in Step 2. Suggestions in the comments to use Task Manager and end a certain file did end the stall, but the sync did not complete. I could verify this by a) how quickly it ended and b) by looking at my Play Count on songs, which did not change.

Other comments hinted that this might be a problem with Apple Watch and its OS.

I think I can confirm that.

I was loathe to try it, but I did unpair my Apple Watch 9 from my phone and voila, the sync worked. I could remove and add music and my play count and last played were accurate.

However, as soon as I paired my Apple Watch to my phone again, the problem returned.

Apple needs to fix this asap, and I plan on submitting a support ticket as unpairing your Apple Watch should not be the way you workaround a problem, especially considering the time it takes to do this, and make sure everything comes back

There is obviously something wrong with their latest iOS release or WatchOS release.

I unpaired my watch from the phone, and it allowed sync to finish without having to force quit the MDCrashReportTool. Paired the watch again, using an old backup, Sync stopped working again. Unpaired and then re-paired as a 'new watch' and then uninstalled all of the 'non apple' watch apps from it (using the watch app on my iphone), and sync works. So that seems to indicate that it's one or more of the watch apps that I've been using, some of which may be older. So, now just need to determine which of those is the offending watch app. Wish that Apple would give some error feedback on issues like this, during sync or watch setup. Using IOS 17.2.1, Mac OS sonoma 14.2.1, Watch OS 10.2, for what it's worth...

Hey guys. The Apple Watch was the issue for me. I had an old watch still paired to my iPhone. I unpaired the watch and sync is working as normal again. I am running Mac OS 12.7.2 and iOS 17.2.1 Life is back to normal.

Someone told me it's an issue with the blue tooth connection. If I go to focus and turn off the blue tooth, it will usually start to work after a short wait. I can turn it back one when it's done. Once in a while I also have to restart my M1 mac mini in addition to turning off the blue tooth on the phone. I also have an apple watch synced to the phone which I'm told plays into this problem. I noticed this problem did not begin for me until IOS 17.2 was installed on my iPhone 12 and OS 14.2 on my M1 mini. I'm still having the problem with IOS 17.3 and OS 14.3. Common Apple! Let's squash that bug!

killing MDCrashReportTool did not work for me this month... I used the finder to eject the phone, then disconnected and reconnected the usb cable and it worked. This is a stupid bug that does not happen with my iPad using the exact same Mac and usb cable.

In my case, as crazy as it sounds, it seemed to be related to my Watch and its connections thru installed apps to the iPhone. If you don't have an Apple Watch, then your solution is gonna be something else.

I'm on MacOS 14.3 and iOS 17.2.1, and I have an AppleWatch that is watchOS 10.3.1. I had the same 'will not finish sync' problem, resorting to my needing to force quit the MDCrashReportTool. I'm not convinced this actually allowed for the sync to complete cleanly, perhaps only stopping it at that point, but in any case...

Through an accident, I discovered that if I unpaired the watch, the sync would work just fine. So by experimenting, I un-paired and then re-paired the watch, as a new watch, and then removed all of the non-built-in apps from the watch. And the sync works fine. I've added back in a few apps at a time, and so far, sync still works fine.

So, I'm guessing that the sync process was being broken by some wonky watch app that was not playing well with the phone and was preventing the sync from finishing. Just wish Apple's error reporting would give some indication of where the problem was coming from... um, if there was an error reporting tool... So Apple, please give us an error log or sync log or something, anything...

But in any case, the above steps solved the problem for me and has continued to work for well over a month now with several updates. Just be mindful of what apps you install on the watch...

Thank you all for your input. I have for the last few days kept the Task Manager (Windows 10) open while syncing my iPhone 12, iOS 17.2.1. Ending the "MDCrashReportTool" task worked to un-stick the syncing. (I took a while to update to 17. This issue started to express itself when I left iOS 16.5 [only a week ago].) I have been able to locate the "MDCrashReportTool" file. I have renamed the file by adding an "xxx " (with the space) to the beginning of the file name. I can't believe how fast my syncing is now. Again, thank you all for your input and insights and knowledge.

Thanks for this. Looks like the 17.3 upgrade fixed the bug (!)

I just did this and it worked. As soon as my watch was unpaired the sync started. What a pain in the butt! Apple definitely needs to fix this.

Ope, the reason I ask about the AppleWatch is it seems like that might be the issue (According to other parts of the internet). My old iPhone 12 syncs just fine, but my new iPhone 15 suffers from this bug. I have my AppleWatch paired with my iPhone 15. (They're both running 17.2)

Some people have been able to narrow it down to it possibly being the AppleWatch. They allege that they have had luck by turning their AppleWatch off before syncing, or turning off bluetooth. I haven't tried fully unpairing my AppleWatch to see if this is true, because to be honest, it's not the user's responsibility to troubleshoot that drastically.

I just hope that this gets fixed soon.

Closing out the "MDCrashReportTool" did the trick for me as well. I also have my Apple Watch attached to the phone. In the past, I found turning off Bluetooth before syncing worked to, but no longer the case.

I would agree there is very little incentive for Apple to fix this issue. They rather have everyone on their Apple Music subscription. Personally, I already have an extensive library of music that I paid for. I don't want to pay $11 a month (which is bound to go up over time) and just listen to the same songs I already own. Every few months, I will go purchase the few new songs I enjoy.

Another possible workaround; turn your watch completely off, then sync. Only tried it once, but it worked. I'm guessing that if the watch and phone are connected in any way, you can't sync. You can't just take the watch off your wrist. The watch must be completely off for the duration of the sync.

Another possible work-around. Has anyone tried turning off their watch before syncing? I've kept my watch off while syncing for the past two days, and it's gone through without me having to force quit MDCrash. Tomorrow, I plan on turning off WiFi / Cellular / Bluetooth on my phone to see if that is another workaround. Maybe the problem only occurs if the phone and watch are in communication with one another?

I posted this yesterday, but it looks like I did something wrong. Apologies if this is a double post.