Since installing the latest iPhone and Mac updates, my iPhone sync to my laptop just stalls. Canc

For what it's worth, I've updated to Sonoma 14.2 on iMac and iOS 17.2 on my iPhone and am having the same problem you've all discussed. A sync hangs in Step 3 of 5 (Preparing to Sync). Following your suggestions, I ran a backup and sync with "Show this iPhone when on Wi-Fi" set to On, "Automatically sync this iPhone when connected" set to Off, and used a cable to connect my iPhone to my iMac.

Once the sync hung up in Step 3, I opened the Activity Monitor and located the MDCrashReportTool process. I first tried to stop it by highlighting the process, clicking the Stop menu icon, and selecting "Quit" from the pop-up menu, but it did not stop. So, I selected the "Force Quit" option in the Stop pop-up menu. The MDCT terminated and my sync immediately finished Steps 4 and 5. My newly updated playlists were synced as I hoped when I checked them after.

Clearly, this is not ideal to do every time we want to sync, but it did work tonight. Perhaps this will help someone.

Taking the hint from a user on a different thread, from the Finder screen:

• • • Set "show iPhone when on WiFi" to ON
    • Set "automatically sync when iPhone is connected" to OFF

Then, with my iPhone connected via WiFi (no USB cable), I ran a backup.

Well, what do you know? It completed successfully without hanging.

Spooner-CO wrote:

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Once the sync hung up in Step 3, I opened the Activity Monitor and located the MDCrashReportTool process. I first tried to stop it by highlighting the process, clicking the Stop menu icon, and selecting "Quit" from the pop-up menu, but it did not stop. So, I selected the "Force Quit" option in the Stop pop-up menu. The MDCT terminated and my sync immediately finished Steps 4 and 5. My newly updated playlists were synced as I hoped when I checked them after.

Clearly, this is not ideal to do every time we want to sync, but it did work tonight. Perhaps this will help someone.

Just for kicks, I posed the following question into an AI generator to see what it might find:

Is it advisable to force quit MDCrashReportTool on a Macbook?

For what it's worth, here is the response:

Generally, it's not advisable to force quit MDCrashReportTool unless it's causing problems. 

Here's why:

What is MDCrashReportTool?

MDCrashReportTool is a system tool on Macbooks that generates crash reports for connected iOS devices. It runs when you sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with your computer. If your device crashes, this tool helps analyze the issue and send the report to Apple for analysis.

Why not force quit MDCrashReportTool?

• • • Data loss: Forcing quit can lead to incomplete or corrupted crash reports, which may hinder Apple's ability to diagnose and fix issues with your device.
    • Sync problems: MDCrashReportTool is part of the syncing process. Force quitting it might interrupt the sync and prevent your device from syncing properly.
    • Temporary issue: In many cases, MDCrashReportTool issues are temporary and resolve themselves with the next sync or software update.

However, there are situations where forcing quit might be necessary:

• • • MDCrashReportTool is frozen and unresponsive: If the tool is stuck and not responding, forcing quit might be the only way to regain control.
    • MDCrashReportTool is causing performance issues: If the tool is using excessive CPU or memory, forcing quit can improve your Mac's performance.

Force quitting MDCrashReportTool cautiously:

If you decide to force quit, there are two ways to do it safely:

• • • Option + Command + Esc: Press these keys together to open the Force Quit Applications window. Select MDCrashReportTool and click "Force Quit."
    • Activity Monitor: Open Activity Monitor (located in /Applications/Utilities/) and find MDCrashReportTool.Click on it and then click the "X" button in the top left corner.

Alternatives to force quitting:

Before resorting to force quitting, consider these alternatives:

• • • Restart your Mac: This can often resolve temporary glitches that might be affecting MDCrashReportTool.
    • Update your macOS: Make sure you're running the latest macOS version, as it may contain fixes for known issues.
    • Update your iOS device: Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to the latest iOS version.

If you're experiencing frequent problems with MDCrashReportTool, it's best to contact Apple Support for assistance. They can help diagnose the issue and provide further troubleshooting steps.

-R.

In the following post, users (Windows, MacOS) are discussing the renaming of the MDCrashReportTool. Thereafter, the tool never runs and the Sync and Backup processes will complete without any user intervention, (that is, no longer a need to cancel the stalled tool).

I am squarely on the fence as to whether renaming the tool is a wise choice. Sure, the Sync or Backup will run successfully. However, no error will be reported in a popup when the process completes. Also, what other processes use this reporting tool that will no longer do so?

Here is a link to the rename discussion:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255265364?sortBy=oldest_first

-R.

Ron_NJ wrote:

I found info in another message thread that indicates the problem is with the "MDCrashReportTool". Users indicate that the backup will continue once the tool is cancelled using the activity monitor. When I try this will report back with results.

Out of curiosity - do you also own an Apple Watch (on watchOS 10.2) paired with the iPhone that won't complete sync?

There is another thread out there detailing how a user was able to identify that the current pairing of the Apple Watch was causing sync failures. Once the Apple Watch is unpaired from the iPhone (as I demonstrated with my own equipment), iPhone syncing to macOS completed normally without the need to force-quit MDCrashReportTool.

Once the Apple Watch is re-paired to the iPhone, the problem returns.

Steve

I found info in another message thread that indicates the problem is with the "MDCrashReportTool". Users indicate that the backup will continue once the tool is cancelled using the activity monitor. When I try this will report back with results.

Here's a link to the message:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255342189?answerId=259949695022&sortBy=best#259949695022

Thanks for your hints. I think the problem is not cable or wifi. It's just the button "Sync". If I click there the syncing or backup stalls and I must terminate the MDC, if I click "Back up now", it works. Not sure if "sync" and "back up now" are the same.

bdub8102 wrote:

I'm having the same issue. I am glad I am not the only one having this issue. I am on Mac High Sierra and using an Iphone 13 Pro Max on IOS 17.2.1. Is there anyway to actually fix this issue, or is it something I'll have to wait for?

bdub…

A real fix will have to come from Apple but In the meantime you can find more info here:

Summary of Issues: MDCrashReportTool, Bac… - Apple Community

Steve A. wrote:

Out of curiosity - do you also own an Apple Watch (on watchOS 10.2) paired with the iPhone that won't complete sync?

Hi Steve,

A sync process basically takes similar files with content differences and merges them to make what I will call a "golden copy" or current version. That is, it will justify the differences to make a current version in both (or all) file locations. It does not matter if it is music or photos or other data.

I believe that users calling out the Apple Watch as problematic are likely having file sync issues between devices. This explains why a sync between a Mac, iPhone and Watch fails but once the Watch with out of sync data (older, newer, corrupt) is removed from the equation, the Sync successfully completes. Let me be clear that it is not necessarily watch OS software but perhaps bad or outdated data the watch contains and Sync cannot process.

To say definitively this is a Watch issue is difficult to say as we do not know where the offending file or software resides. If it is in the OS, which build has the issue, macOS, iOS, watchOS? Is it one, two or all three software builds?

What I can say is that many users are having sync stalling issues without an Apple Watch being a part of the process. This is not to say watchOS does or does not have a problem. OS software is a "black box" to users and therefore, without visibility, only Apple can identify where the problem lies.

Keep in mind not all users are having an issue. I believe if all files are current between devices, thus not requiring file updates via the sync, there would be nothing for the MDCrashReportTool to do and the process will complete successfully. Alternately, if the sync does have to justify file differences between devices and can do so successfully, again, there would be nothing for the MDCrashReportTool to do and the process will complete successfully.

In answer to your question, YES, I have an Apple Watch with a current OS build. I have experienced the stalling issue for the first time after the latest build installations were performed on all three devices. However, after disconnecting/deletiing the watch from my iPhone as if it never existed, I still experienced the sync stalling.

I hope I have answered your question but if not, feel free to ask for clarification.

MacBook Air M1 - Sonoma 14.2; iPhone 14 - iOS 17.2; Apple Watch SE - Watch OS 10.2

-R.

Here is the result of force closing the MDCrashReportTool.

• "Syncing (Step 3 of 5) - Preparing to sync" ended immediately after cancelling MDCrashReportTool. It did so quickly, I wonder if it ended without completing the "prep" function.

• Steps 4 and 5 did not run. Therefore, I suspect the resulting backup may not be complete.

Note: Upon ending, the following error message displayed:

"Podcasts on the iPhone cannot be synced because all of the podcasts selected for syncing no longer exist"

Think of "backup" as making a copy of a file(s) while a "sync" as bringing together two versions of a file into one latest version.

You may find this posting of interest:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2766292?page=3&sortBy=oldest_first

As for the backup methods, you may find this Apple article helpful:

Backup methods for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

-R.

My backup issue sounds similar so I will add details here.

MacBook Air M1 - Sonoma 14.2

iPhone 14 - iOS 17.2

Apple Watch SE second generation (currently not connected)

ISSUE occurs when performing iPhone backup to Macbook via USB cable using Finder app

(1) Backup stalls - "Syncing (Step 3 of 5) - Preparing to sync"

(2) Rebooted Mac and iPhone; This did not resolve the issue

(3) Found a reference of other users resolving by deleting prior backups; This did not resolve the issue

(4) Removed from iPhone a podcast app installed after last successful backup; This did not resolve the issue

(5) Found a reference of other users resolving by disconnecting Apple Watch from iPhone; This did not resolve the issue

Notes:

- Mac has 225 GB free space; iPhone has 80 GB free space

- Last successful backup was performed prior to updates to macOS 14.2 and iOS 17.2

- Finder app options setting "Automatically sync when this iPhone is connected" set to "ON"

- After interrupting the stalled backup, rebooting and reconnecting the iPhone to Mac via USB, Finder opens and the backup attempts to continue rather than starting a new backup

Assistance would be greatly appreciated since at this time, I have no backups of my iPhone 14