iPhone 12 mini won't backup to iMac after iMac has had new SSD installed

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Level 1

4 points

iPhone 12 mini won't backup to iMac after iMac has had new SSD installed

I am trying to backup my mac mini to an iMac that has recently had a new SSD installed - I then restored the mac from a time machine backup.

I think the issue is that the iMac/iPhone thinks the iPhone is still synced to the old HDD so it doesn't give me any options to "Back up all the data on your iPhone to this Mac".

The iPhone is in the side bar and has the rotating arrows as if it is doing something and Finder can't restart, also highlighting that something is happening, but it has been doing that for hours now.

The Revert and Apply buttons at the bottom of the finder window are also greyed out. Therefore if I make any changes to say the photos I want to copy to the iPhone I can't 'Apply' those changes.

Does anyone have any ideas how I can get the Finder Sync app to work to allow the iPhone to backup?

iPhone 5, iOS 10

Posted on Dec 31, 2023 7:05 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

dave_mo Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 1, 2024 3:09 AM in response to dave_mo

It looks like I have managed to stumble across a fix:

I tried connecting the iPhone to my up to date MacBook and it gave me all the options to backup the iPhone - so this mean't it wasn't thinking it was synced to another Mac.
I then deleted all the old iPhone back ups from the following folder to see if that was an issue - but plugging the iPhone back in it didn't seem to solve the issue: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/
I then connected a different iPhone 12 mini to the iMac to see if it was a iOS vs MacOS issue and I got all the options to backup, so this wasn't the issue.
I then plugged in the iPhone which was having the original issue and this time it gave me the option to backup.

I think the fix was plugging in the other iPhone which seems really odd - maybe it forced the finder sync to reset something.

I can now see the iPhone backing up and new files being created in the folder I mentioned above.

Thanks to all those who commented on this issue

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Answer 2

den.thed

Level 10

92,458 points

Dec 31, 2023 8:41 AM in response to dave_mo

What macOS version is the iMac currently running..?

Try disconnecting, restart both the iMac and iPhone, then reconnecting.

If that doesn't help, then it seems like your User account and setting were changed or not migrating correctly.

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Answer 3

den.thed

Level 10

92,458 points

Dec 31, 2023 12:32 PM in response to dave_mo

There is a line (that line is not published) where the macOS is just too old to allow for manual syncing the latest iOS via a cable.

If restarting both devices and reconnecting does not forage out a small supplemental update to the macOS, then the version gap maybe beyond that line.

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Answer 4

claus237

Level 2

190 points

Dec 31, 2023 8:10 PM in response to dave_mo

I have a iPhone 12 Mini like you 17.2.1 , but i have no ,issue with back-up to my iMac!

If you have a pc running Windows 10 or 11 try to connect the iPhone to the pc!

I have a Vintage old iMac running Catalina,maybe this is the problem to you?

I running Ventura,Monteray, Big Sur ,and Catalina with no Problems on my iPhone 12 Mini.

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Answer 5

dave_mo Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 1, 2024 2:11 AM in response to den.thed

The phone synced ok before the SSD was installed and that had an older version of the OS. It wouldn’t sync after the process of copying over the files from the Time Machine backup. It synced via iTunes in Monterey and now in Catalina it should do it via the finder so the gap between iOS and MacOS should be less than it was.

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