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iPhone keeps disconnecting from Mac

Since upgrading to Mavericks, I have been unable to sync devices (specifically ipad mini and iphone 4s) to my MId 2013 Macbook Air. They wil rapidly connect and disconnect, and I'm unable to do anything with the device. This happens with both USB ports. Any suggestions?

[Re-Titled by Host]

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Nov 4, 2013 12:58 AM

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190 replies

Mar 1, 2018 12:30 PM in response to staceyaytch

The solution is as follows:


  1. (Make a backup)
  2. Shutdown
  3. Connect your macbook with power (otherwise this won't work)
  4. SMC-reset (power management)
    1. Hold for 15 seconds: cmd + alt + shift + power
    2. If you have a MacBook with a magsafe adapter thats fully charged you will see the light change from green to orange for less than a second this means the reset has succeeded.
  5. VRAM reset (also known as PRAM reset if I'am not mistaken)

    Power on and immediately pres and hold: cmd + alt + p + r. This wil restart the machine, hold these buttons until the machine has tried to bootup two or three times then let go.


The problem could comeback but just use this 2 minute trick and your good to go.


Please let me know of this worked for you!


My hardware: MacBook Pro 15 inch 2015 (fully spect). Had this problem with: iPad 2017, Iphone 7+, Ipad 4, Iphone 6. All works well after this reset.

Feb 17, 2017 1:53 AM in response to staceyaytch

Want to share my experience too. I got the same problem before for my iMac and my iPhone 6s Plus. I tried all the method like change some setting in my phone and iMac, change different cable but still not my case. At the end I used Isopropyl Alcohol clean all of the connect point of the usb cable and the usb port in my iMac as well. After that everything back to normal.

Apr 12, 2017 12:09 PM in response to macntash

Turning on airplane mode did it for me.


And after successfully connected my iPhone to the Mac (or iTunes) with airplane mode 'ON', I can turn 'OFF' the airplane mode without having the rapid connect-disconnect got triggered.


After that I can connect-disconnect my iPhone without having the need to turn 'ON' the airplane mode again.


Weird, but it happened to me.

Apr 14, 2017 7:26 PM in response to Jumoonji

Ipad Air 2 as well as iPhone SE on latest MacBook Air 13" disconnect/reconnect all the time. I turned off bluetooth and they are both charging now. (After have rebuilt permissions and done all the other suggestions here, of which none worked for me.) So this is more like the airplane mode solution. I suppose (pulsing) the (bluetooth and maybe more) network interfaces influences USB power too. I really needed the wired connection because Astropad can't connect wirelessly anymore after last Sierra update (Duet won't connect at all...)

Apr 15, 2017 9:40 PM in response to ClaireCK

Really?


After the airplane solution as above, I have never experienced the same again.


Oh and additionally, the next two days after getting my wired connection back to work, I updated my iPhone into the latest public beta available.


The reason for the update to beta (yeah buggy but working) is that my iPad Pro did not experience any of the wired connection, and it was on the latest public beta, while my iPhone was on the latest official release.


After the update to this day it has never occurred to me anymore.

May 9, 2017 3:03 PM in response to staceyaytch

I've encountered this problem when I was developing my iOS app in Xcode and was going to make a new build. Tried to connect my iPad - it connected for a millisecond then disconnected. I've changed ports, rebooted iPad, nothing helped. And then I've turned off iPhone simulator that was launched from Xcode on my mac. After that iPad connected instantly. Wonder why simulator prevented my iPad connection :/

Jun 28, 2017 10:50 PM in response to Le Thuc Minh Tien

This worked for me. Thank you!

Le Thuc Minh Tien wrote:


i have same issue but i find the way to fix it. Try this:

tap Settings > General > Reset > Reset Location & Privacy. This will also reset your location and privacy settings. You can also untrust all computers by tapping Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings on the ipad/iphone

hope you fix it!!

Jul 8, 2017 9:16 AM in response to Tommy2Kind

This actually worked. I can't believe it.
I tried multiple first party and third party cables. Everything worked fine with all my power adaptors and with my desktop PC. But when I connected my iPad Air 2 or iPhone SE to my MacBook Pro 15" 2015 it would just constantly connect and disconnect.

But, after your advice I tried pushing hard on the USB cable when connecting it, and then it worked as normal.

Every other USB peripherals I've used with this machine, including mice keyboards, flash drives, hard drives, and more have all worked without issue.


This is a really odd problem, and I can't imagine what is causing it.

iPhone keeps disconnecting from Mac

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