Q: waiting for changes to be applied/waiting for items to copy stuck during sync

Try a reboot hold down power button & menu button hold both down until you see Apple Logo then wait. Bsydd

Oldpathwhieclouds you are one badass iPhone fixer. It copied 4 or 5 apps off my phone then started syncing my music right away. I've struggled with this for weeks! Thank you!

oldpathwhiteclouds solution helped me out.

Holy crap, this has been driving me NUTS and your solution (#1 specifically) worked!  Which is incredibly ironic because it's literally the first time *ever* that sync over WiFi has functioned properly for me.

Have not read this entire thread and so forgive if this has already been added but I have been struggling with this now for two days on my new iPhone 6 + and got nowhere with any of the suggestions I had read nor with the Apple Care. I should add tat I had not exhausted the Apple Care support which I have a scheduled call back tomorrow but do not think I will need it as I have apparently solved the problem and wanted to share with the WWW.

Anyway what I did to fix this problem was to delete all of the files that lived in a  iTunes folder called "Previous iTunes Libraries" which can be found by going to the following path:

Macintosh HD > Users > " Your Username" > Music > iTunes > Previous iTunes Libraries

Once I deleted the old versions in that location everything started working.... hope this helps someone else

Thank you oldpathwhiteclouds! After two days of trying to figure this out, this simple solution worked for me.

After trying every other suggestion on these forums I still had at least 300 songs with the dotted circle. This simple idea worked flawlessly. Thanks again for the brilliant idea.

I got hit with this Bug, too. Will list my stats: new iPhone 6 Plus, upgraded to iOS 8.1.2, Mac OS X 10.8.5, current iTunes (12.0.126). Unlike many of the helpful posts here, almost none of the suggestions would apply in my case. I determined that the reason for this status message, in my case, was iTunes was waiting to copy about six Apps that were either incompatible or corrupted. I am still working through completing a full sync, but I'd like to make some observations:

In iTunes, there are very few clues available to us to help diagnose the problem. I note that if you select the device icon, the one that will display in the thumbnail the name of the iPhone, and the capacity, next to the spinning arrows, you will likely also see a warning triangle. That is the only clue I had that the program was actually reporting a problem. Clicking on the icon brings up a window (which you can't resize), which will tell you the error(s) iTunes has encountered, but it's up to you to reach the proper conclusion. In my case, deleting/uninstalling the problem Apps allows me to proceed to the next sync phase.

Apple simply needs to add better diagnostic and troubleshooting tools into iTunes. This Sync problem has been reported since iOS 5, and while it doesn't look like this issue will go away anytime soon, giving advanced users access to better information would remove the 'mystery' behind these kinds of errors and expedite troubleshooting, and maybe even a bug fix from Apple's developers.

- Add a 'Verbose' method to iTunes Sync for Advanced Users. This way you can actually monitor the progress of your sync, and make a diagnosis if something goes wrong.

- Allow the Triangle Error window to be resizable so you can read more about the errors.

- Have iTunes save this error window as a Log, which you can access from a menu, or export later.

- Add a checkbox under the Summary page that will allow iTunes to Skip syncing any file class, such as Apps, pictures, music, etc., so the Sync doesn't get hung up (and add this status it to the Sync log).

- Add the ability to uncheck Apps Sync (unless I missed this feature) so you can isolate this function when troubleshooting sync. You can uncheck syncing music and videos, but not Apps. Why?

- Someone else reported a Diagnostic menu item in an earlier version of iTunes. I don't remember seeing this feature, but if it was there, Apple should put this back.

- Offer a 'repair' option for iTunes internal DBs/backups.

Just my two cents.

Thank you SO much.  I did what you said and it worked like a charm after trying every other thing in the book!  You're awesome!!

I deactivated "Find My iPhone" on the iPhone 6 and it was then able to sync with iTunes on my PC.

I have found that it is essential to update the iOS apps in iTunes before doing a sync between iTunes and an iOS device. If I don't, I get the “Waiting for items to copy” problem every time while the syncing process is trying to copy newer versions of the apps from the iOS device into iTunes. First update the app library in iTunes by choosing Apps on the left side of the top bar. Then choose Updates, then Update All Apps. Wait until all of the apps in the iTunes library have been updated. Then do the sync.

FYI, this worked for me, too. Tried all the restarting, etc., but this simple trick from the iTunes app solved the problem (which is really odd because I NEVER buy anything on the iPhone). Thanks, Max.

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oldpathwhitecloudsDec 3, 2014 1:54 AM Re: waiting for changes to be applied/waiting for items to copy stuck during sync
Re: waiting for changes to be applied/waiting for items to copy stuck during syncin response to kamilskii

Just thought I would post because I solved this problem when I had it very easily.

I just transferred purchases File/Devices/Transfer Purchases

My sync then just started straight off.

Worth a try, it took me a few seconds.

Max

Try a reboot hold down power button & menu button hold both down until you see Apple Logo then wait. Bsydd

Nothing syncs, Apps, Music, nothing, anymore on either my iPad 2 nor my iPhone 6, both running the latest iOS 8, iMac running latest iTunes and Yosemite.  Sick of trying to work this out through these forums.  Fix the bloody thing Apple.

UPDATE: I have tested iTunes v.12 sync with three iPhones:

iPhone 5 with iOS 6: sync completes without error.

iPhone 5S with iOS 7: sync completes without error.

iPhone 6 Plus with iOS8: sync hangs at the 'Waiting' status.

If none of the helpful suggestions here don't work: Either Apple needs to issue a bugfix or an update to iTunes to accommodate an iPhone 6 Plus device, iOS8, or both.

After several years of frustration with syncing in iTunes, I took the advice I found in Apple's support forums and now the problems are all gone.  iTunes syncs used to take 45 minutes or more every time.  Now, my syncs only take two to three minutes every time.  What a relief! 

Here is what I did to fix my syncing:

1) I deleted most of the 60 or so magazines I had in Zinio.  Now I only have 5 or so of the most recent editions.  That one change alone fixed most of the problem.

2) I deleted another magazine app that had several editions of a regional magazine in it.  Never missed it.

3) After reading a lot of posts encouraging this, I deleted the only voice message I had saved.

4) I try to avoid buying songs on my iPhone.  Instead, I buy them on my iMac and then sync.

To fix problems with songs disappearing or failing to sync, I now do this:

1) Create a duplicate copy of my playlist folder.  The duplicate copy adds the number "1" to the name.

2) Select the playlist folder that does not have the same name as the one on my iPhone.  So, if the folder on my iPhone is "Name 1," I instead select "Name."

3) Deselect the playlist that is not the one I selected in step 2.

4) Sync.

This results in zero problems syncing my playlists.

Also, I never use the Cloud or Match.