My computer won't recognize my iPhone

Question

Level 1

5 points

My computer won't recognize my iPhone

I went through the provided troubleshooting on the support site and everything seemed normal. But I then realized that the apple mobile USB driver is not showing up in the device manager.

I tried the suggested fix and nothing is showing up.. no iphone, camera..not even an unknown device. Attached is an image of the pop-ups I get when i try to plug in my phone.

I also just downloaded and updated the newest version of itunes.. so I would assume anything to do with drivers would have been included in that bundle.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I really want to back up my phone before I purchase a newer model.

iPhone 3GS, iOS 4

Posted on Jul 3, 2012 1:04 PM

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Answer 1

randers4

Level 9

63,525 points

Jul 3, 2012 1:45 PM in response to wethefallen

See item #4 at the buttom of this article: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1538. There is a section called "If only 'Unknown Device' appears" under "If the Apple Mobile Device USB Driver is not listed".

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Answer 2

Jul 3, 2012 2:09 PM in response to wethefallen

Also check for updates on your windows computer.

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

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Answer 3

wethefallen Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 4, 2012 9:13 AM in response to randers4

randers4, I followed those steps as well but not even an unknown device was showing up in the manager. absolutely nothing was.

I checked for updates as well. I did everything I could possibly think of and almost brought it in to a nearby apple store.

After browsing a few other sites, I saw that other people with the same issue as me went through all the same steps and ultimately found out that they had a faulty cable that was preventing the computer from recogizing the device.. I've had my cable for a couple years so I figured I have nothing else to lose and bought a new one. And, thankfully, that did the trick. Finally got it to sync.

Thank you both for your help, though!

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Answer 4

Jul 6, 2012 10:45 AM in response to wethefallen

Just a heads up for people. I could not turn on my Ipod Touch and the computer would not recognize my Ipod Touch, I went through the whole apple support checklist and nothing worked.

Then I restarted my computer, opened iTunes and plugged the Ipod Touch in and now its all working great. Not sure what happened there, or how it got fixed, but give it a try if all else fails.

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Answer 5

Mar 14, 2013 11:02 PM in response to wethefallen

For other who may have a similar issue and find this string...With mine it was a simple case of rebooting the Iphone not the computer. Yes, even Apple needs a good old <CTRL><ALT><DEL> from time to time. 🙂

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Answer 6

Apr 12, 2013 6:21 AM in response to wethefallen

Try a different cable. Just did and mine suddenly worked like a charm. Who knew cables would be so different?

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Answer 7

Jan 25, 2016 10:14 AM in response to wethefallen

I have tried all of these things to no avail. I even bought a new cable such as Neil suggested, but nothing is working. My case specifically is strange. The computer and the phone recognize each other. The phone shows up in devices, but when I try to access my phone on itunes or download anything off my phone to my computer it doesn't work! What do I do!

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