Did Apple remove iTunes sync'ing from new iPhones???

[ftaok]

Did I miss something recently? I've been trying to help someone on Nextdoor. She just got a new iPhone 12 and she can't get her music from iTunes (Windows) to sync to her new phone. Apparently, she was on a call with an Apple Tech and they tried a bunch of things and nothing worked. Ultimately, the tech told her that the only solution was to subscribe to Apple Music and then she could download her songs to her new iPhone.

This sounds completely wrong, and I think I would have heard about this as the outrage would have been so loud.

I do see that some folks have been having problems with iTunes and syncing, but that's been an issue for years, and it's usually just a bug or driver issue or something.

Can anyone enlighten me on this? I feel out of the loop if this is true.

Thanks.

EDIT - just wanted to mention that from her posts, her iTunes library is full of songs that she ripped from her CD collection. It doesn't seem that she's ever subscribed to Apple Music or iTunes Match. It's not clear whether she's ever purchase music from iTunes Music store.

 

[jetsam]

This has worked for me for many years. It still works for me with Windows 10 and my iPhone 12 Pro.

My music is a combination of ripped CDs, music purchased from iTunes, and MP3s purchased from Amazon. They all get transferred to my iPhone by this method.

Attach iPhone to PC with USB cable.
You may be asked if you trust this PC on the iPhone. Click Yes, of course.
You also must unlock the iPhone.

Now start iTunes, wait for iPhone icon to appear at top (takes a few seconds) and then click on it.

From Settings on the left side, select Music.
Check the box next to Sync Music.
Select Entire Music Library or desired subset.
Click Sync in the bottom right hand corner of iTunes window.

Post back if this doesn't do the trick.

As you said, there can be issues with iTunes syncing music. But that is a bug, not a feature.

And shame on the Apple tech who said one has to subscribe to Apple Music. That's just being lazy!

 

[ftaok]

So here's an update to this story.

The lady decided to call back to Apple and speak to someone else. The tech informed her that iPhone 12 and iTunes do still sync music without the use of Apple Music. So the first tech was wrong in what they told her.

Apparently, the problem may have something to do with the anti-virus software that she was running that prevented iTunes from updating. The Apple tech spent a couple hours trying to help her.

I don't know if her problem got resolved, but she's a lot less frustrated knowing that the issue wasn't an Apple "money grab" to make users subscribe to Apple Music.