The ipad cannot be synced. An internal device error occurred.

Same problem with Windows 7 Pro, so it has nothing to do with the Mac OS. iTunes says it is sending xxx photos, then says it is waiting for the photos to transfer. Then the transfer stops, sometimes with and sometimes without this error message, and only two or three hundred photos transfer instead of the number that it said was sent. It doesn't matter if they are new photos or photos that were previously synced. The number of photos that actually transfer each attempt varies from 4 to just over 300, with around 250-300 being the most common. Rebooting the iPad isn't necessary and doesn't help. Sometime you can press "sync" under photos and it will send another 300, but sometimes that just gives an "unable to sync" message and you have to unplug the iPad and plug it back in again, and maybe restart iTunes.

The Apple specialist that is working with me, said that Apple engineers are aware of the problem and are working on a resolution. The resolution will probably be included in a future update. He's not sure which one.

Everyone here needs to keep posting/hammering Apple’s feedback pages on this.

Every time a new release of iOS 11 is introduced that doesn’t fix this issue, everyone should be posting feedback.

Everyone in this post thread can post feedback more than once!

Everyone needs to stay on Apple’s back about this problem!

The ONLY way to get Apple’s attention on this issue is for everyone to keep posting this issue to Apple’s feedback page here.

iPad Feedback

http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html

Like I posted you can use other ”cloud based”, offsite server storage services to move your photos/images to and from your iDevices to your Mac.

Data storage services from Amazon, Dropbox, BOX, or any other off-site data storage services available to you in Australia.

Have you checked out iMazing 2, an iTunes alternative.

https://imazing.com/

There are apps that will let you move your photos from iPad to Mac vis Wifi or by both Wifi and FTP-like to your Mac.

I use both “cloud” storage service and the Wifi/FTP method

There are apps like Sendanywhere, Instashare, Air transfer,

Also, special Photo/video transfer apps that transfer photos back and forth from Mac/PC to your iDevices.

I use an app called Photo Transfer App.

Lots of these style of apps in the iOS App Store.

There are plenty of viable alternatives to the current iDevice/iOS 11 Photos app/macOS Photos App issues to use for tye toke being.

I have just had a call from my Apple advisor saying that he has tried to sync a large quantity of photos to his iPad and he is also having the same trouble as we are all having. He contacted Apple Engineers offering them logs from his Mac and their response to him was that they didn't need his information as they have enough information from other sources to identify the problem which according to them is with iTunes and not the iOS and they are working on a fix. Hopefully that won’t be far away…… What a wonderful Christmas present that would be.

We seem like a family, everyone here within this discussion so I just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and may you all have a safe and prosperous New Year

Regards

Gary

Melbourne

Australia

We have the same issue. After updating to IOS 11, the ipad would have empty albums, state at the bottom that it was syncing photos, and throw out a device error message on iTunes. We spent hours on the phone with Apple support and they finally told me to take it to an Apple Store. I took it in, they tested it and said there was nothing wrong with the iPad. They eventually swapped it out because they couldn't explain the issue. We synchronized the new one, only to have the very same issue. Following the advise of several on this discussion, I persisted in synchronizing and restarting the ipad, restarting iTunes (probably 20 times) until it showed that all the photos were downloaded. Now, the issue we have is that the photos are all mixed up in the albums. There is no rhyme or reason to the organization. What an incredible mess! MANY, MANY HOURS WASTED!!! When will they address this issue?

I had to sync mine like 15 times and I finally got it to add all the photos. It would add some out an album but not all. And I am using a Mac which should make it even more embarrassing for Apple. I ended up using air drop to get the videos onto my iPad. It is just mind boggling to me that something this basic has gotten messed up and nobody at Apple is on top of it.

Interesting it still works for iPad 1st generation - does that include a fresh sync with new photos?

I have four iPads from 2012 3rd Generation up to a new iPad 2018 bought last week. Issue persists on all devices. Only way I can found round it is to sync in small batches - usually one album at a time - but that is time consuming and frustrating.

Outrageous that the issue still hasn't been resolved by Apple - presumably it's low priority as they want us to use iCloud Photo Library rather than cable syncing to devices.

After I updated to iOS 11.4, and the latest iTunes, I synced my iPad, and most of my photos were copied. I performed a second sync and the remainder of my 30000+ photos copied. However, I have not attempted to sync my iPhone 8 because I’m leaving on vacation soon and I don’t want to chance anything. I will sync my phone when we return.

For me it is enough. I have accepted the fact Apple will not solve this problem. And I refuge to use Icloud. I have bought COPY TRANSPHOTO. I have about 12000 fotos in 150 albums.

I use this program now for 4 weeks for my Ipad, and 2 Iphones. And I am very satisfied.

It's a bug in either iOS 11 or the new release of iTunes -- sending it to the Apple Store won't fix it. On the plus side, it appears Apple is aware of the issue and working toward a solution.