Syncing Stuck on Step 2 On Mac (MERGED)

[papbot]

Have any with the new phones seen an issue with this? The phone is seen by the MBA on Sonoma both by cable and over wifi. However the first issue is that even though the "automatically sync when connected" box is checked this never happens when I use a cable to connect them. My phone is on the latest beta version of 17.1 but this has been the situation since first getting the phone. The second issue is that when I click on Sync manually the process makes it to step 2 and stays there for a prolonged time, 2 minutes or so, and then there is a quick flash of some text and the process clears. There is no indication of any diagnostic files being brought over as there normally is when this process is performed. When I check under Library/Logs/Crash Reporter/Mobile Device the phone is not listed there, only my iPad. Backups can be performed to the MBA without issue, both by cable and over wifi and are shown in the appropriate area.

When doing this with my iPad Pro everything proceeds normally as it spends no more than a couple seconds on step 2 then goes to copying diagnostics, and completing normally. If I go to that same Finder location under Mobile Device the iPad is shown and files that were brought over are listed including two sysdiagnoses that had been run on the device. Interestingly all those files still exist on the iPad and were not removed during this process as I believe they normally are. I had also run a sysdiagnose on the phone but none of its files get synced over.

I don’t know whether this is a software glitch, or perhaps some change in the process, or a hardware issue with the device itself. Every other function on the phone is normal and I wouldn't even know about this if I didn’t regularly sync my devices to my Mac, usually weekly, mostly to backup and sync over diagnostic files.

 

[gwang73]

A couple of us are having the same issue. I think it started either when I got my iPhone 15 Pro and transferred everything over from my 14 Pro, or it could've started during the later 17.0 betas on my 14 Pro - I can't recall exactly when but for sure it's been a problem since iOS 17.0.1 and continues to be a problem on 17.1b3.

I do know that while on beta, some logs will not clear out during syncing until the RC or public release, but I've never had this syncing issue before, nor being able to actually pull the logs from the iPhone to the Mac.

 

[gwang73]

By chance, do you also have an Apple Watch? I found this on Reddit and so far, it's working for me. It's not enough to put the phone in airplane mode but I do need to turn off the Apple Watch before syncing and it looks to copy the logs to my Mac and clears out the logs on the phone.

I wish I found this before updating to 17.1 beta 3 as when running the beta, some logs won't clear out, especially app-specific ones until the RC or public release.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/16sc6sp

 

[papbot]

A couple of us are having the same issue. I think it started either when I got my iPhone 15 Pro and transferred everything over from my 14 Pro, or it could've started during the later 17.0 betas on my 14 Pro - I can't recall exactly when but for sure it's been a problem since iOS 17.0.1 and continues to be a problem on 17.1b3.

I do know that while on beta, some logs will not clear out during syncing until the RC or public release, but I've never had this syncing issue before, nor being able to actually pull the logs from the iPhone to the Mac.

I did the same thing you did—transfer from a 14 Pro Max to this 15 Pro Max. What I normally do after setting up a new phone is to connect it to my Mac to enable backups and syncs. So I had no beta on my phone when I first did this and the phone appeared normally in Finder but when I clicked Sync it went to step 2 and stayed on that for maybe 2 minutes and then cleared quickly but with no indication that any diagnostic files had been copied over as you would normally see. Initially I thought maybe it’s because the phone is so new that are no files to copy over.

So I continued to do this over the next day or two but the same thing occurred. Then when I went to Library/Logs/Crash Reporter my phone was not listed under MobileDevices, only my iPad was shown. I could make a backup of the phone in Finder normally and without issue but syncing does not appear to be happening. I installed the first beta on the phone thinking that might clear this up but so far hasn’t done anything.

 

[papbot]

By chance, do you also have an Apple Watch? I found this on Reddit and so far, it's working for me. It's not enough to put the phone in airplane mode but I do need to turn off the Apple Watch before syncing and it looks to copy the logs to my Mac and clears out the logs on the phone.

I wish I found this before updating to 17.1 beta 3 as when running the beta, some logs won't clear out, especially app-specific ones until the RC or public release.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/16sc6sp

In a way this did work—turning off my Apple Watch. I did that first, then connected my phone by cable to my MacBook Air. When I did that a notification popped up on the computer that some software would need to be downloaded before my 15 Pro Max could connect to this computer. So I did that, software appeared to be installed and sync began but again stalled on step 2. One of the Reddit posters mentioned disconnecting the phone from the cable when this happens, so I did that, then reconnected and the sync actually proceeded correctly with diagnostic files copied over. Checked Library/Logs/Crash Reporter/Mobile Device and there was the phone listed with my iPad.

So for now turn the watch off and/or disconnect and reconnect the phone to complete this process. Interestingly I had thought maybe this only affected the 15s but others with older phones reported this as well when they updated to iOS 17.

 

[gwang73]

In a way this did work—turning off my Apple Watch. I did that first, then connected my phone by cable to my MacBook Air. When I did that a notification popped up on the computer that some software would need to be downloaded before my 15 Pro Max could connect to this computer. So I did that, software appeared to be installed and sync began but again stalled on step 2. One of the Reddit posters mentioned disconnecting the phone from the cable when this happens, so I did that, then reconnected and the sync actually proceeded correctly with diagnostic files copied over. Checked Library/Logs/Crash Reporter/Mobile Device and there was the phone listed with my iPad.

So for now turn the watch off and/or disconnect and reconnect the phone to complete this process. Interestingly I had thought maybe this only affected the 15s but others with older phones reported this as well when they updated to iOS 17.

Are you on iOS 17.0.3? If so, can you check your iPhone to see if all the logs cleared out from the phone after syncing with the Mac?

 

[papbot]

Are you on iOS 17.0.3? If so, can you check your iPhone to see if all the logs cleared out from the phone after syncing with the Mac?

Prior to installing the beta (17.1) on my iPad, which was syncing properly to my Mac, no diagnostics were cleared from the device after a sync. That continues in the current betas. In communicating with others that is just the current state of the software which is a change (or a bug) from previously. However in checking regularly the diagnostics are cleared by the device itself on a weekly basis. But the sync does not clear anything.

 

[gwang73]

Prior to installing the beta (17.1) on my iPad, which was syncing properly to my Mac, no diagnostics were cleared from the device after a sync. That continues in the current betas. In communicating with others that is just the current state of the software which is a change (or a bug) from previously. However in checking regularly the diagnostics are cleared by the device itself on a weekly basis. But the sync does not clear anything.

Hopefully it's part of the bug as I still have logs older than a week on my device. Prior to 17, a sync on public release would remove all the logs but when running beta, it keeps some log files on the device after sync.

 

[BriceApp]

By chance, do you also have an Apple Watch? I found this on Reddit and so far, it's working for me. It's not enough to put the phone in airplane mode but I do need to turn off the Apple Watch before syncing and it looks to copy the logs to my Mac and clears out the logs on the phone.

I wish I found this before updating to 17.1 beta 3 as when running the beta, some logs won't clear out, especially app-specific ones until the RC or public release.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/16sc6sp

Nice find, this finally allowed some logs to be removed. I out the iPhone in airplane mode and turned off Bluetooth and it synced correctly.

 

[papbot]

Hopefully it's part of the bug as I still have logs older than a week on my device. Prior to 17, a sync on public release would remove all the logs but when running beta, it keeps some log files on the device after sync.

I agree this is quite different from just about all previous iOS versions. I was regularly backing up and syncing my devices on a weekly basis specifically to clear out those logs to regain storage space. But since 17 that does not happen and is not an isolated phenomenon. However the device’s own clearing mechanism which was haphazard at best before does seem to be working reliably for me now. The only files that see remaining longer than a week now are something named Dedisco. Those go back to last year but I have no idea what they are.

 

[BriceApp]

I put in a FB ticket for this.

FB13259821

 

[papbot]

I put in a FB ticket for this.

FB13259821

Good, mine is FB13233446.

 

[papbot]

I did try just enabling Airplane mode and turning Bluetooth off, that did not work, same behavior. Shutting the watch down, and you may still have to unplug and plug the cable back in, does work.

 

[gwang73]

Still not working correctly in iOS 17.1 RC, WatchOS 10.1 RC and MacOS 14.1 RC.

 

[papbot]

Still not working correctly in iOS 17.1 RC, WatchOS 10.1 RC and MacOS 14.1 RC.

The last time I attempted a sync of my phone (15PM) to my mac I connected by cable and when that prolonged step 2 came up I unplugged the cable from the phone and plugged it back in; that triggered an actual sync. WiFi syncing is not even possible with this bug. I didn’t see any improvement whether my watch was on or off. Disconnecting the cable was necessary regardless. This may be a prolonged bug.

 

[gwang73]

The last time I attempted a sync of my phone (15PM) to my mac I connected by cable and when that prolonged step 2 came up I unplugged the cable from the phone and plugged it back in; that triggered an actual sync. WiFi syncing is not even possible with this bug. I didn’t see any improvement whether my watch was on or off. Disconnecting the cable was necessary regardless. This may be a prolonged bug.

Unfortunately I think you're right and it's just going to be one of those things broken in iOS 17.

 

[papbot]

Unfortunately I think you're right and it's just going to be one of those things broken in iOS 17.

Since all my devices, mac, phone, and iPad Pro, are now updated to the latest releases I thought I’d try this again. I made multiple attempts with my phone, connecting and disconnecting the cable, and turned my watch off just in case. None were successful. So I gave up and connected my ipad which synced properly.

After the ipad I reconnected my phone and tried again, my watch was still off. This time when I clicked “Sync” it went through a normal sync process without having to disconnect, and the latest diagnostic files were copied over to the mac. So I have no idea what’s actually required to trigger a real sync, watch off, on, connect, disconnect…? I updated my Feedback report to indicate this still is not fixed, and the report still displays no similar reports filed. The issue may not be widespread enough to get a fix until ios 18.

 

[gwang73]

Since all my devices, mac, phone, and iPad Pro, are now updated to the latest releases I thought I’d try this again. I made multiple attempts with my phone, connecting and disconnecting the cable, and turned my watch off just in case. None were successful. So I gave up and connected my ipad which synced properly.

After the ipad I reconnected my phone and tried again, my watch was still off. This time when I clicked “Sync” it went through a normal sync process without having to disconnect, and the latest diagnostic files were copied over to the mac. So I have no idea what’s actually required to trigger a real sync, watch off, on, connect, disconnect…? I updated my Feedback report to indicate this still is not fixed, and the report still displays no similar reports filed. The issue may not be widespread enough to get a fix until ios 18.

I do think it has to do with having an Apple Watch but it fails to sync randomly. Sometimes with the Apple Watch turned off, sometimes I still need to unplug and plug.

My partner's iPhone 15 Pro has no issues with syncing but she also doesn't own an Apple Watch. My iPad also syncs fine. It's also broken on a Windows machine using iTunes and the preview Apple Devices app.

I filed tickets under iOS, WatchOS and MacOS just to be safe. All tickets show no similar reports, lol.

 

[papbot]

All tickets show no similar reports, lol.

Yeah I don’t know how these reports should be titled so they’re seen as the same issue. Other than including FB numbers from others in follow up information they don’t seem to be recognized as more than zero reports.

 

[gwang73]

Still not fixed in 17.1 public release.

 

[papbot]

I attempted yesterday, second time this week. But this time I did turn off my watch, the previous time I did not and nothing worked. This time it did work..but once I had the phone connected by cable I had to force quit or relaunch Finder and then clicking sync was successful. I updated my submission report to again indicate it appears to be connected in some way with the watch. I’m not expecting this to be resolved until ios 18 betas start rolling.

 

[NoBoMac]

Just stumbled upon this thread...

Have not upgraded to 17.1 yet, but it's not just 15s that are having the issue: my 13 Mini is also showing same problem.

And might be onto something re Watch as I have that as well.

 

[papbot]

Just stumbled upon this thread...

Have not upgraded to 17.1 yet, but it's not just 15s that are having the issue: my 13 Mini is also showing same problem.

And might be onto something re Watch as I have that as well.

I have gotten my 15PM to sync twice now, but the only successful times was when I turned my watch off first. I am curious whether others without a watch experience this. Even with the watch off it‘s still a convoluted process to get it to work.

 

[dcmaccam]

Hi, Still same problem here with 17.1. My iPhone 13 Mini won't sync with my 2019 iMac unless I switch off my Apple Watch Ser.6 This was connected via cable. Noticed it when I was trying so sync my calendar from my iMac to my 13 Mini.

 

[papbot]

Hi, Still same problem here with 17.1. My iPhone 13 Mini won't sync with my 2019 iMac unless I switch off my Apple Watch Ser.6 This was connected via cable. Noticed it when I was trying so sync my calendar from my iMac to my 13 Mini.

I have not yet tried to sync my phone over WiFi. I’ve used a cable each time. Have you or anyone else done it this way after turning off the Apple Watch? Even by cable this can be tricky.