AlexGo
Level 1 (2 points)

Q: the iPhone could not be synced because this computer is no longer authorized for purchased items that are on this iphone

I know there are many solutions to fix this problem, I have spent weeks trying various options, however non has solved my problem.

 

Here's my scenario, I have a Mac Pro and my iTunes folder was on another internal HDD, I was using Yosemite, I then clean stalled El Capitan, then I started iTunes and linked my old iTunes library, so far everything is OK and I can see my music, videos and apps, then I connected my iPhone 6 and backed it up to my system until the point it wants to do the sync and that is when the popup menu appears with the following error:

 

the iPhone could not be synced because this computer is no longer authorized for purchased items that are on this iPhone

 

I followed various solutions such as:

 

Deauthorizing  my computer, login out of my account in iTunes, logging out on iTunes in my iPhone and restarting both the system and iPhone, then starting iTunes and reAuthorizing my computer, then trying to sync and I still get the same error above.

 

It is really frustrating, as I even created a new library to see if that would help and still it didn't.

 

I have only used one Apple ID account, I have never purchased any music or app from another user ID.

 

Any help would be highly appreciated.

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)

Posted on Mar 4, 2016 3:04 AM

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Q: the iPhone could not be synced because this computer is no longer authorized for purchased items that are on this iphone

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Kenichi Watanabe,

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe Mar 4, 2016 3:17 AM in response to AlexGo
    Level 8 (39,989 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 4, 2016 3:17 AM in response to AlexGo

    I have only used one Apple ID account, I have never purchased any music or app from another user ID.

    That message refers to purchased items on the iPhone.  These are items synced to it from your old Mac, which WAS apparently authorized for those purchased items.  Was your old Mac authorized for your Apple ID and another Apple ID (someone else)?  If so, maybe there is something on the iPhone that was purchased with that other Apple ID.

     

    In any case, what are the option given with that error message?  If an option is to remove items that are "no longer authorize," just let iTunes do that.  If you never purchased items with another Apple ID, you've lost nothing. 

  • by AlexGo,

    AlexGo AlexGo Mar 4, 2016 3:35 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe
    Level 1 (2 points)
    Mar 4, 2016 3:35 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

    Hi Kenichi,

     

    Thanks for the quick feedback. No like I mentioned I have always used one Apple ID as I do not have any other Apple IDs.

     

    As for the error message I get a popup message:

    the iPhone could not be synced because this computer is no longer authorized for purchased items that are on this iPhone

    I do not get any options at all, if I had I would have definitely removed the items in question.

  • by Kenichi Watanabe,Helpful

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe Mar 4, 2016 3:17 PM in response to AlexGo
    Level 8 (39,989 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 4, 2016 3:17 PM in response to AlexGo

    I did not say that other Apple ID was necessarily YOUR Apple ID.

     

    You must get at least one option, to dismiss the message.    You don't get any option in iTunes either, to associate the iPhone to a new iTunes library?  What were you trying to sync that caused this message to appear?

     

    Can you do a backup of iPhone using iTunes?  If you can, you may want to do a Restore on the iPhone using iTunes

     

    Use iTunes on your Mac or PC to restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support

     

    and then restore your data from the backup.  If you cannot backup/restore using iTunes, there's a way to use iCloud for the backup, and erase the iPhone from the device

     

    How to erase your iOS device and then set it up as a new device or restore it from backups - Apple Support

  • by AlexGo,

    AlexGo AlexGo Mar 4, 2016 5:13 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe
    Level 1 (2 points)
    Mar 4, 2016 5:13 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

    OK no I didn't use somebody else's Apple ID at any time.

     

    I don't get any option whatsoever, just the OK button which closes the error message.

     

    I just connect my iPhone and it automatically does a backup and as soon as the back up is done and it is about to start to sync, the error message appears.

     

    I'll try to reset the iPhone from the backup I have in iTunes and see if that helps.

     

    I'll post the result. Thanks again

  • by uzj100,

    uzj100 uzj100 Mar 4, 2016 10:52 AM in response to AlexGo
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 4, 2016 10:52 AM in response to AlexGo

    I had a similar problem and found that it related to a previous email account that I used for my Apple ID. (When Time Warner bought Adelphia, it changed my email to roadrunner). Do you have something like this going on? This might be the case for you too and Apple is showing some songs in the previous account. I was able to check this out via appleid.apple.com

     

    I had to create a new password for this older account, then I was able to authorize the computer and not be repeatedly prompted to authorize it over and over.

     

    HTH

  • by AlexGo,

    AlexGo AlexGo Mar 4, 2016 11:20 AM in response to uzj100
    Level 1 (2 points)
    Mar 4, 2016 11:20 AM in response to uzj100

    Thanks but my email ID has been the same one from the day I registered with Apple. The problem is it was working perfectly fine when I was on Yosemite and once I switched over to El Capitan all **** broke lose. In any case I am going to try Kenichi's advice and reset my phone tonight and see if that would do the trick.

  • by AlexGo,

    AlexGo AlexGo Mar 4, 2016 3:20 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe
    Level 1 (2 points)
    Mar 4, 2016 3:20 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

    Hi Kenichi,

     

    Thank you very much for your advise. I finally got it working. First I backed up my iPhone, then in iTunes I reset my iPhone to factory setting and then restored it from the last backup and behold it now syncs and I don't get that annoying error message any longer.

     

    I hope if anyone else is having the same problem this solution can help them.