Installation failed: Can't install the software

This seriously needs to get fixed. I'm so annoyed everytime that I want to add music to my phone I have to sit and wait about 10 minutes for my phone to finally connect to iTunes before I can. I have disabled 3rd party security software, reset privacy settings, synched up date/time, etc. and NOTHING has fixed this issue.

It's been a while for this post, just thought to share my experience, yesterday i had a call with Apple support with same issue. Yes, it started with new apple iphone Xs original boxed USB cable. I thought it was the cable for a while and when i switched back to my old iphone X cable it worked (I was able to connect my iphone to my Mac Book). Apple also, told me to charge your phone to at least 80% with the power plug and try with the new USB cable of Xs. Once i charged it to 80% it worked with my new USB Xs cable. Weird, because if you connect iphone to Mac it should charge as well. Looks like the new USB cable of iphone xs needs to be charged using wired power plug and then it connects to the Mac book. Hope this helps.

Florencio.

It's been a while for this post, just thought to share my experience, yesterday i had a call with Apple support with same issue. Yes, it started with new apple iphone Xs original boxed USB cable. I thought it was the cable for a while and when i switched back to my old iphone X cable it worked (I was able to connect my iphone to my Mac Book). Apple also, told me to charge your phone to at least 80% with the power plug and try with the new USB cable of Xs. Once i charged it to 80% it worked with my new USB Xs cable. Weird, because if you connect iphone to Mac it should charge as well. Looks like the new USB cable of iphone xs needs to be charged using wired power plug and then it connects to the Mac book. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the tip about upgrading Xcode. I did that, then had to wait for the "trust - don't trust" message to flash on my phone. The message would come up and disappear as my phone disconnected (and re-connected) itself. I had to wait for the message to come again and pounce on it like I was playing a video game!

It makes me feel like I'm using some flimsy third-rate bootleg software.

First, I cleaned out the Lightning slot (using a 'dental stimulator' that was all plastic.) That got a lot of lint out, and made the connection reliable. But I still had the problem.

Changing cables did not help.

Installing XCode did.

Clearly there is a significant bug in iTunes. I'm appalled at how ****-poorly Apple responds to bugs like this (or even to the serious ones, like the FaceTime bug.) There's no excuse for this, it's not like Apple can't afford to do Software QA.

I figured it out! I had been messing with instructions for about an hour. Sometimes my ipad would become visible for maybe a minute and then disappear and then I would get the message we all got and try and install software and NADA! Then I got the message about the server.

Soooooooooo, the easiest item for me to replace was the USB cable from my Mac to my iPad! Found the original I got with my Mac. Used it, and "BINGO" All is well. Got my iPad and Mac synced! I am a happy camper. No more buying low budget cables on ebay!!!!

TL;DR Use a different cable.

I was having the same problem and I kept seeing the solution of using a different lightning cable show up. I've been in tech for 20+ years and I couldn't imagine that the cable I was just charging my iPad with from a wall adapter would be faulty for connecting it to my MacBook.

Turns out switching the cable worked. Note, however, that the one that didn't work is the Apple cable that came in the box brand new about 4 months ago. That cable is visually in perfect condition and has been treated gently. The cable I switched to was purchased alongside the highway at a gas station some ten months ago or more and it worked. There's no sensible reason why one works and the other doesn't.

It also doesn't make much sense to me that all these red-herring type messages and errors come up from a mere damaged cable. I hope this reply helps.

I'm afraid I don't have any decent, precision measuring tools. If you're referencing the cable itself, gas-station cable is visibly thicker, looking more shielded that the Apple cable. The male lightning connector surfaces of both appear the same, though visual isn't very scientific.

What do you mean date and time preferences synched? I have checked in settings on my Macbook and my iPhone and the date and time settings seem pretty aligned. Do you mean there is a way to sync them?

I know this sounds silly but following other responses to change out the lightning cable connecting my Mac to my iPhone, I just moved the cable from one USB port to another on my Mac. My iPhone synced immediately. Sounds like something Apple needs to correct.

The cable is very important, and in case of on/off connections with iphones and macs, this was and is the foremost source of trouble. Even switching the USB port can make a difference here (my experience!).

BUT, this issue kept going on with the iphone of my wife, even though I switched through different cables.

Even resetting the iphone did not help.

In the end, the problem settled after I connected the iphone to the mac while being in my account instead of my wife's.

Afterwards also the connection within her own account was fine.

Very strange and very annoying behaviour.

Same problem for me with iPad Mini 2. I have Xcode already installed. I'm using an official Apple lightning cable which works fine on my iPhone. The iPad repeatedly disconnects and reconnects, prompting me to trust the computer every time. The computer prompts me to download an update but then says it's not available.

I was having the same problem for months, probably since the last iOS update. I finally had enough and needed a new phone anyway so I got a new phone this morning, got it home, plugged it in to my MacBook...SAME PROBLEM!

After scrolling though here I grabbed the cord from the box for the new phone, and voila, no problems.

Since this problem started after the last iOS update, I suspect this is something built into it to detect off-brand cables. Maybe it Apple's cables didn't fray so easily, we wouldn't need off-brands.

"Installation failed: Can't install the software because it is not currently available from the software server."

I check date and time on both devices and they're ok, both are software updated, Macbook pro 2016 and iphone XS

Exactly the same issue out of the blue despite all software being up to date. Swapped cable from 3rd party one (which had previously worked perfectly) back to the official apple cable and all is well.