iPhone stuck at Step 3 When Syncing Apple Music

Something that I didn't even consider until today was to make the sync through finder and not iTunes as I have been doing. I'll try this later and report the results.

iTunes does seem to get confused sometimes and tells me my device is in use with another application when it isn't, so maybe iTunes is the problem.

And why are we still calling it iTunes when it hasn't been for a long time now!

"The "fix" suggested here does not actually work.

It ends the sync, yes, but the sync does not actually transpire."

I'm unsure of your problem, the fix enables the sync to complete, not end it. As for songs and other iCloud items I do not need a sync for these items to transfer between devices, this happens with iCloud.

All the sync really does is backup your device to your computer and maybe add a personal video or two. If you need to get content physically onto or off your device away from the Apple 'sync' have a look at 'iMazing' this makes managing ringtones and podcasts etc a lot easier between your computer and device.

Still the same issue today January 16, 2024

have to manually quit or force quit that thing MD.... in the activity monitor

Annoying. seems ok with the IOS 17.1 but this new 17.2.1 still an issue...******

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I've nearly frisbee'd my laptop across the room because of this issue.

I mean, a man's got to upload his latest Christmas presents to iTunes haven' they?

Thank you! Did I say thank you? :-)

Merry Christmas and happy holidays

Monterey latest and 17.2.

A sync worked the first time, but a backup halted on step 3. Then Sync would not work

Had rebooted both mac and phone

Killing the process allowed it to proceed, thank you.

Also had a problem with phone connecting and staying connected; kept disconnecting, but magically staying connected now.

Haven't applied a patch in a while, so curious it's now failing.

Plus it's been shaky the last few months; Apple needs to spend more time with local backup testing.

This works! It's very random so thank you so much for posting this. I have been looking all over the place for a solution and this is only one I've seen that works.

Truly curious as to how to figured this out...

I had been looking ever since upgrading to iOS 17.2 but never found any answers... Guess I wasn't looking hard enough or wasn't using the right keywords or something. I was also hoping 17.2.1 would have fixed it but it didn't.

Anyway, thanks again for sharing this tip and have a great New Year!

Yeah I realized how silly that sounded once I reread your response, haha. I’m not syncing anything specifically since I use Apple music and iCloud for stuff like notes and reminders. I sync to offload diagnostics and free up any potential clutter from iOS updates. I think it’s working though. Thanks!

I also have the same issue with my previous iPhone 13 Pro Max and now with my new iPhone 15 Pro Max. I tried the Activity Monitor>MDCrashReportTool but it did not work...I am using the USB-C cord that came with my box. Not sure how to get it to sync! It's been sitting there for the past 3 hours just not doing anything. Wish Apple would figure out what's going on!

MacBook Sonoma 14.2.1

Iphone 14 Pro 17.2.1

So many thanks for your help. Up to now nobody (Apple assistance, an Apple tech level 2 who succeeded in locking my MacBook Pro M3 that had to be reinitialised - I hate you, guys, at the Apple tech !!! - and the Genius bar !!!) has been able to provide any effective assistance. Like all of you, the sync was stuck at "Step 3 to 5 - Preparing to sync". I hope Apple will fix the problem, quitting the process as shown above cannot last...

Same issue here for the last few weeks. When I first looked, there wasn't any current telemetry around this. Glad to see that others share my issue. Much mention of MDCrashReportTool, but I am running Windows 11 and do not see it in the Task Manager, before, during or after running an iTunes backup...

[edit]

Actually it did come up in Task Manager at the point where Step 3 began.

Thanks all.

LadyArthur wrote:

MacBook Sonoma 14.2.1

Iphone 14 Pro 17.2.1

So many thanks for your help. Up to now nobody (Apple assistance, an Apple tech level 2 who succeeded in locking my MacBook Pro M3 that had to be reinitialised - I hate you, guys, at the Apple tech !!! - and the Genius bar !!!) has been able to provide any effective assistance. Like all of you, the sync was stuck at "Step 3 to 5 - Preparing to sync". I hope Apple will fix the problem, quitting the process as shown above cannot last...

I am in the same boat. Syncing is impossible. Stuck preparing for hours on end. Mac Pro 3.3 GHz 12-Core Intel Xeon W is the new computer (with absolutely nothing on it other than applications!) running Sonoma 14.2.1 and my iPhone 13 Pro Max is running iOS 17.2.1.

Read all the "so-called" help articles which are useless. Did various searches with tips (tried turning off the Bluetooth, for example) and none of them worked. I am not subscribed to Apple Music. I miss iTunes as it was seamless and easy. Music sucks. Directed to the correct library. Beyond annoying.

The "fix" suggested here does not actually work.

It ends the sync, yes, but the sync does not actually transpire.

For example, if you downloaded songs on your computer and now syncing it with your phone, once you manually crash the report, yes, the "sync" ends... but doesn't complete. Your newly downloaded songs have not actually sync'd with your iphone.

What a mess.

Seems this has gone on for at least a month with now touch base by an apple tech?

Yes… this… the sync does not actually complete. No new songs or photos get transferred at all. The “fix” just completes the cycle without actually doing anything. I do not use iCloud for storage as I have over 260gb on my iPhone 13 Pro.

All right, I found the MDcrashreport, now the iPhone 14pro is synching with iTunes in an HP Pavillion x 360 Laptop. It is now synching. I was finding this very frustrating, eventually got it. Thanks to all here for assisting me in sort this. Much appreciated