iPhone IOS 9 kills connectivity for Snow Leopard users

[JeffG111]

Just in case anyone thinks they may have the option to restore back to IOS 8, IOS 9 is the equivalent of MALWARE. If you need Snow Leopard, do not even test IOS 9 on any device. You can’t go back. The “upgrade" knowingly makes iTunes in Snow Leopard incapable of syncing with the IOS 9 product... with no way to reverse the process. Once your Apple product has been exposed, IOS 9 cannot be removed or replaced or restored to a previous IOS by any traditional means, if at all. Since (like countless others) I NEED Snow Leopard, I took big steps to assure that I could keep it and still sync my iPhone as I always had. But here was my futile attempt.

(1) On my iPhone 5S, I selected "Erase all Contents and Settings.” This took my phone all the way back to the “Hello” screen. (from that state, it would still not connect to iTunes 11.4) (2) I updated the backup of my computer’s hard drive. (3) I downloaded and installed “El Capitan” on my MacBook Pro, knowing I could not keep it. (4) I opened that newer version of iTunes and restored my temporarily functionless iPhone from my September backup containing IOS 8.4.1. (5) BUT... Even though it took all my phone settings back to a date when I was running IOS 8.4.1, my restored phone mysteriously still contains IOS 9.0.1, meaning it is still effectively ruined for me.

After I use my Superduper backup to restore my Mac back to Snow Leopard, my phone will again be useless with that Mac. Apple owes me a new phone. It’s like filling dry-erase markers with latex paint, failing to mention it, and then offering to sell you a new board that works just fine with latex paint. My replacement phone has to be one that has not been exposed to the IOS 9 MALWARE ATTACK to be able to restore my saved settings. Otherwise, I have to use a second computer (most likely a PC) just to sync my iPhone. Ridiculous! I can’t be the only one who does not have the disk space make an El Capitan partition just to backup an iPhone. I am not angry that Apple made a change. I am angry that they did not WARN us that the “update" was a permanent attack on the connectivity of many faithful Mac users. Apple COULD have given proper warning. They did not. Apple makes no computer and no operating system that can run the best version of Logic Pro without bugs... and that is just one example. If you make the same mistake I did, you may also find yourself in need of a new phone. Snow Leopard users, Just Say No.

 

[TitanTiger]

Just in case anyone thinks they may have the option to restore back to IOS 8, IOS 9 is the equivalent of MALWARE. If you need Snow Leopard, do not even test IOS 9 on any device. You can’t go back. The “upgrade" knowingly makes iTunes in Snow Leopard incapable of syncing with the IOS 9 product... with no way to reverse the process. Once your Apple product has been exposed, IOS 9 cannot be removed or replaced or restored to a previous IOS by any traditional means, if at all. Since (like countless others) I NEED Snow Leopard, I took big steps to assure that I could keep it and still sync my iPhone as I always had. But here was my futile attempt.

(1) On my iPhone 5S, I selected "Erase all Contents and Settings.” This took my phone all the way back to the “Hello” screen. (from that state, it would still not connect to iTunes 11.4) (2) I updated the backup of my computer’s hard drive. (3) I downloaded and installed “El Capitan” on my MacBook Pro, knowing I could not keep it. (4) I opened that newer version of iTunes and restored my temporarily functionless iPhone from my September backup containing IOS 8.4.1. (5) BUT... Even though it took all my phone settings back to a date when I was running IOS 8.4.1, my restored phone mysteriously still contains IOS 9.0.1, meaning it is still effectively ruined for me.

After I use my Superduper backup to restore my Mac back to Snow Leopard, my phone will again be useless with that Mac. Apple owes me a new phone. It’s like filling dry-erase markers with latex paint, failing to mention it, and then offering to sell you a new board that works just fine with latex paint. My replacement phone has to be one that has not been exposed to the IOS 9 MALWARE ATTACK to be able to restore my saved settings. Otherwise, I have to use a second computer (most likely a PC) just to sync my iPhone. Ridiculous! I can’t be the only one who does not have the disk space make an El Capitan partition just to backup an iPhone. I am not angry that Apple made a change. I am angry that they did not WARN us that the “update" was a permanent attack on the connectivity of many faithful Mac users. Apple COULD have given proper warning. They did not. Apple makes no computer and no operating system that can run the best version of Logic Pro without bugs... and that is just one example. If you make the same mistake I did, you may also find yourself in need of a new phone. Snow Leopard users, Just Say No.

I think you should report it to Apple and it may be an easy fix, but also...

...I think you're being over the top griping that the latest version of iOS doesn't work with a Mac OS that's five generations back now. I mean, 10.7 Leopard came out in 2010. We're at the 5 year mark since Snow Leopard was replaced with a new version. There hasn't been a Snow Leopard update since July 2011. If you require such an old version of OS X, you are going to start seeing some stuff not supported. It's fairly amazing that it's gone 5 years with no trouble frankly.

 

[JeffG111]

I think you should report it to Apple and it may be an easy fix, but also...

...I think you're being over the top griping that the latest version of iOS doesn't work with a Mac OS that's five generations back now. I mean, 10.7 Leopard came out in 2010. We're at the 5 year mark since Snow Leopard was replaced with a new version. There hasn't been a Snow Leopard update since July 2011. If you require such an old version of OS X, you are going to start seeing some stuff not supported. It's fairly amazing that it's gone 5 years with no trouble frankly.

Your point is well-taken. However, to be clear, I am not intentionally griping about the incompatibility, which was inevitable at some point. I am trying to warn people that this problem even exists before they make the same mistake I did. The beta version of IOS 9.1 contains the first bold warning I have seen from Apple about the incompatibility and the inability to reverse the process. In Apple's defense, it WAS technically in writing somewhere, but when the announcement was made, that part was not mentioned. A simple note telling people to keep 8.4.1 until Apple can create a sufficient operating system to work with expensive A/V software and hardware (as SL still does) would have been the right thing to do. It creates a substantial hardship for those trapped by IOS 9. And yes, I did call Apple. The young man on the phone was cordial and understanding, but he could only offer sympathy. He also told me that I could have reverted to the previous IOS if I had done so within Apple’s time window, but he was unaware that their “window" didn't matter, since there was no way to use the reversion patch without iTunes connectivity that the update was already preventing.

 

[Marshall73]

Your point is well-taken. However, to be clear, I am not intentionally griping about the incompatibility, which was inevitable at some point. I am trying to warn people that this problem even exists before they make the same mistake I did. The beta version of IOS 9.1 contains the first bold warning I have seen from Apple about the incompatibility and the inability to reverse the process. In Apple's defense, it WAS technically in writing somewhere, but when the announcement was made, that part was not mentioned. A simple note telling people to keep 8.4.1 until Apple can create a sufficient operating system to work with expensive A/V software and hardware (as SL still does) would have been the right thing to do. It creates a substantial hardship for those trapped by IOS 9. And yes, I did call Apple. The young man on the phone was cordial and understanding, but he could only offer sympathy. He also told me that I could have reverted to the previous IOS if I had done so within Apple’s time window, but he was unaware that their “window" didn't matter, since there was no way to use the reversion patch without iTunes connectivity that the update was already preventing.

Why not upgrade to El Capitan and then run SL in a VM? Why do you NEED to run SL?

 

[Shirasaki]

repeated.

 

[Shirasaki]

Well, on the contrary, Windows 7 users still can sync their phone using latest version of iTunes.

And, imagine what you have at hand is not iPhone 5s but iPhone 6s. Then you would have no choices but to use iOS 9, while breaking the connectivity between snow leopard.

 

[canesalato]

Why not upgrade to El Capitan and then run SL in a VM? Why do you NEED to run SL?

Not every Mac can be upgraded from Snow Leopard

 

[JeffG111]

Why not upgrade to El Capitan and then run SL in a VM? Why do you NEED to run SL?

The VM solution is a good idea, but I have been warned that Logic Pro requires too many resources to run optimally in a VM. Even if it works initially, as the complexity of the recording session increases, it suddenly won’t. If this were a video game, dropping the performance settings would be an option, but that’s not an option when making professional recordings.

Here is an Apple Support Community page that touches on the known compatibility issues between Logic Pro and every OS since Snow Leopard. <https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7531>
Logic Pro 9 has for many years, remained a stable and professional recording app, even on older computers, provided they did not “upgrade” to Lion, and provided that their Mac was even compatible with Lion. Even though I really enjoy features of later operating systems, compatibility issues with Logic Pro have been disappointing, but manageable for the thousands of us running SL who remain hopeful we will be able to make the switch with the very next OS release. I remain a cheerleader for Apple products, but now my best solution may be to spend a lot to buy the fastest Mac I can afford and hope that’s enough. It is very easy to believe that Apple remained silent on this IOS 9 issue to force people to do that very thing. I did not expect Apple to go back and support SL, but I did not expect that they would allegedly intentionally withhold information in order to make it very inconvenient to use.

 

[haikitteh]

fyi, ios9 also killed my iphone5's ability to connect to iTunes in Mavericks 10.9.5. The walled garden is starting to feel like a prison.

 

[Marshall73]

The VM solution is a good idea, but I have been warned that Logic Pro requires too many resources to run optimally in a VM. Even if it works initially, as the complexity of the recording session increases, it suddenly won’t. If this were a video game, dropping the performance settings would be an option, but that’s not an option when making professional recordings.

Here is an Apple Support Community page that touches on the known compatibility issues between Logic Pro and every OS since Snow Leopard. <https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7531>
Logic Pro 9 has for many years, remained a stable and professional recording app, even on older computers, provided they did not “upgrade” to Lion, and provided that their Mac was even compatible with Lion. Even though I really enjoy features of later operating systems, compatibility issues with Logic Pro have been disappointing, but manageable for the thousands of us running SL who remain hopeful we will be able to make the switch with the very next OS release. I remain a cheerleader for Apple products, but now my best solution may be to spend a lot to buy the fastest Mac I can afford and hope that’s enough. It is very easy to believe that Apple remained silent on this IOS 9 issue to force people to do that very thing. I did not expect Apple to go back and support SL, but I did not expect that they would allegedly intentionally withhold information in order to make it very inconvenient to use.

Thinking about it, you don't need to VM Snow Leopard. Get an external drive and install El Capitan onto it and use that for iTunes and your iPhone etc and use the internal drive for Snow Leopard or do it vice versa. If it is not convenient to haul around an external drive with you, then replace the DVD drive with an optibay and whack another drive in it. You would then get the best of both worlds, Snow Leopard for Logic Pro and El Capitan for everything else.

I don't think I have ever put 2 versions of OS X on the same drive for dual booting but you could test that out too.

 

[Marshall73]

Not every Mac can be upgraded from Snow Leopard

Whilst that is true the OP started that he HAD installed EC and is returning to SL.

 

[canesalato]

Whilst that is true the OP started that he HAD installed EC and is returning to SL.

You are right, I apologise. =)