Installation failed: Can't install the software

I had this problem only if I open iTunes manually and after that connecting the iPhone X. What solved the problem for me was to have iTunes closed, then connect the iPhone. iTunes will opens automatically and recognize the iPhone. No software to be downloaded then.

I had the same issue. I started downloading but it gave me the not available error so i just clicked on ok but it kept downloading. you can check on itunes if its downloading or not by clicking on the arrow thats pointing down.

Guys i have found the solution. It has nothing to do with your time or date setting because they are obviously set to be automatic which means they should synchronize perfectly.

The issue was the cable. I tried a different cable to see if it will work and then, yes it worked perfectly. It didn't even ask me for that update. The cable i tried was an anker usb cable( a different apple usb cable might work as well) and that worked perfectly.

I can now back up my phone in peace.

Let us know if it works for you too so people can stop stressing about this because it is actually stressful.

Guys i have found the solution. It has nothing to do with your time or date setting because they are obviously set to be automatic which means they should synchronize perfectly.

The issue was the cable. I tried a different cable to see if it will work and then, yes it worked perfectly. It didn't even ask me for that update. The cable i tried was an anker usb cable( a different apple usb cable might work as well) and that worked perfectly.

I can now back up my phone in peace.

Let us know if it works for you too so people can stop stressing about this because it is actually stressful.

Yes, just set the same date format region both iPhone and MAC ex. on my case MAC was set as Buddhism year format but iPhone was set as AD format. - This can solve multiple connect/disconnect repeatedly also , No need to change cable - Thank you

I just swapped the cable that connects my iPhone 10 to my mac to resolve this issue. I had been using an older cable. I swapped in the cable that came with my iPhone 10 - it does seem a bit thicker; so, it's definitely different.

BDAqua, Thank you! I couldn't figure out how to indicate that!!! But yes, following those steps, my iPhone shows in my system info under the USB (as per the Apple article, it wasn't showing!), and works normally now!

Seems I'd simply got my new iPad cable with my with my original iphone cable. When i swopped them back all error messages disappeared and my iPhone updated normally. Seems a bit unnecessary if you ask me!

I had this problem for months. I have a iPhone 7 plus and a Mac (High Sierra). When I upgraded to Mojave the problem still exists. The time and date settings were the same and changing to other USB ports or Apple cables did not help. I finally solved the connection problem via a very cheap non Apple cable between my iPhone and Mac. Now iTunes made a backup and is downloading the needed software for my phone.

Hi,

I had the same problem with my iPhone XS.

I was using an older lighting cable from an SE which resulted in the same problem.

I then switched the cable and plugged in the new lighting cable which came with the XS (I was saving it till the old one broke) so the solution may be as simple as finding a new cable.

Hope this works for everyone else!

Happens when I try to sync an iPad Pro to a MacBook Pro 15 2015. After a reset in safe mode and back to normal, it actually worked normally for a few minutes, and then the dreaded pop up asking me to install software that doesn't want to install appeared.

I tried a third party lightning cable I have, no difference. I could order another official Apple lightning cable and see if it makes a difference, but I'm not sure that's the issue.

I tried all other suggested resets to no avail. I also installed the latest Xcode - nothing changed. Very weird that it worked for a few minutes, I could access the iPad, sync and charge. Feels like a software issue to me. I have the latest MacOS and iOS.

*Attention, I solved the problem!!!*

Hopefully this will fix the problem for someone else too albeit I doubt everyone.

Did you have your iOS devices connected to another Mac or PC before? Did you use the backup on computer feature before rather than iCloud backup?

I connected the iPad Pro that had this problem to my previous Mac, thinking of backing it up there to restore it and then hope it would work on the Macbook Pro where it didn't. I deactivated the computer backup there and activated iCloud backup instead.

I knew that was it...I suspected that could be the problem. Now that the iPad isn't looking for the former computer to backup with...or the computer isn't attempting to back it up...now I can connect it to my new Macbook Pro, it shows it correctly on iTunes and it doesn't give me that silly popup anymore. Finally!

Works fine on both Usb ports on the 2015 Macbook Pro.

I'm not going to activate the computer backups for this device, which I don't want anyway. I like the iCloud backup. I also don't need to sync anything, so I don't guarantee it will work for that. "Prevent syncing" is on in iTunes' settings. I'm not gonna try, and I just don't need it. What I needed is using the iPad as a display with Duet, use it for development in the future (not sure there will be problems there) and most of all CHARGE it via the Macbook. Now it does.

I'm very happy I solved the problem, at least for now, and I hope this can help someone. Apparently the old computer backup set on iTunes messed things up a bit. Eventually not having to backup on computer doesn't force iTunes to attempt to install that piece that won't install. I tried all other solutions to no avail, including the Xcode one and the resets.

Hope this will help somebody else reclaim their devices.

Would it charge if it were a powered hub instead? I'm waiting for mine in the mail to test. The problem started again to me after a few hours of smooth sailing. Now I switched to the other usb port and it started working again. It's not very reliable...

Stopped working as I was sending the post.

So, no, I haven't solved the problem as I thought. It seemed solved for a few hours...

I had the same issue. Even after updating to the latest software, it still showed up.

What solved it was changing the lightning cable I used to a non-Apple store one that I had bought elsewhere.

It automatically connected.

I tried two third party ones and they didn't change anything. What changed things temporarily was turning off computer backups. Now it connects and disconnects randomly - worked for some hours and then the issue again. Waiting for my USB hub to arrive hoping it will make it work. Figuring out exactly what's going on would be nice. But there's even developers with this issue who don't know, apparently it's a bug.