my macbook pro starts up iTunes and recognises device but stops at this point and icon starts spinning for all of my devices.

Hi stiques,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities.

It sounds like iTunes stops responding when syncing iOS devices with your Mac. The article below should help as it provides tips to isolate and resolve this specific issue.

iTunes: May become unresponsive when connecting iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3219

Follow the steps below to troubleshoot the issue:

1. Install any available software updates for your computer.
   • For Mac OS X: Click the Apple () menu, choose Software Update, and follow the on-screen instructions.
   • For Windows: Refer to the documentation for your computer for instructions on using Windows Update to update your computer.
2. Update iTunes to the latest version.
   • For Mac OS X: Click the Apple () menu, choose Software Update, and follow the on-screen instructions. You can also download iTunes from the Apple website.
   • For Windows: Use Apple Software Update, or download iTunes from the Apple website.
3. Test with automatic syncing disabled.
   • For Mac OS X: Click the iTunes menu and choose Preferences. Click the Devices tab and place a check next to option to "Prevent iPods, iPhones and iPads from syncing automatically." Click OK.
   • For Windows: Click the Edit menu and choose Preferences. Click the Devices tab and place a check next to option to "Prevent iPods, iPhones and iPads from syncing automatically." Click OK.
   Reconnect your device and test to see if the issue still occurs. If your device is recognized successfully, you may be able to isolate which type of data is causing the issue. Do this by deselecting all syncing options under each of the syncing tabs and then sync. After that, re-enable your sync options one at a time until the issue returns.
   Note: If the issue only occurs when syncing data from the Info tab is enabled (For example: Contact, Calendar, Mail account or Bookmark syncing), reset the Sync History (for Mac OS X instructions see this article, for Windows see this article).
4. Check your device for podcasts. If there are any podcasts, manually delete all podcast episodes from the device by sliding your finger across the podcast episode's name and tapping Delete. Once all podcasts are removed from your device, reconnect it to the computer, open iTunes, and test.
5. If possible, test to see if connecting your device to a different computer with the latest version of iTunes installed resolves the issue.
6. Test with iTunes plug-ins removed.
   
   • Quit iTunes.
   • Navigate to the following folder, based on your operating system:
     Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iTunes Plug-ins
     Windows Vista or Windows 7: C:\Users\[username]\App Data\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iTunes Plug-ins
     Mac OS X:
     • ~/Library/iTunes/iTunes Plug-ins (The "~" represents your Home folder)
       
     • /Library/iTunes/iTunes Plug-ins
   • If any files are in this folder, move them to the Desktop temporarily.
   • Open iTunes and test to see if the issue is resolved. If so, you may leave these iTunes plug-ins removed. If you wish to re-use these iTunes plug-ins, consult the vendor for the iTunes plug-ins to see if any updates are available.

If the issue also occurs on a different computer:

If the issue does not occur on a different computer, or no other computer is available to try:

-Jason