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Is iOS 17 compatible with itunes 12.8.2.3 under macOS Sierra 10.12.6?

macOS Sierra 10.12.6 iMac 27” Late 2014 iTunes 12.8.2.3


iPhone 11Pro IOS 17.0.2


iPhone charges attached to iMac and iPhone also works properly with Photos on my iMac.


iTunes does not show the iPhone connected to my iMac. (But iTunes worked with iOS 16.7)


Posted on Sep 25, 2023 6:45 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 21, 2024 11:54 AM

Windows 7, where iOS 17 works perfectly, is from 2009!! and it is: Windows!!

How does iOS 17 not work in El Capitan from 2015!! this is: Apple!!!!?

That is nonsense with our loyalty to Apple.

I transferred the iTunes Folder to Windows and my synchronization works perfectly with Microsoft!!!!...

Will Apple work in partnership with Microsoft?.... If Steve Jobs were there, he surely wouldn't like this...

Apple must RESPECT the customer and be considerate of all the information that we have dependent on our Mac and iPhone EQUIPMENT - designed by them. I have hundreds of CDs that I paid for and they are digitized, in addition to iTunes purchases, ALL blocked by Apple. Any update must give priority to the content on these machines!!! (The same thing happened to me with Final Cut Pro! When I updated Mountain Lion for El Capitan, I can never continue working on the movies I was creating! TOTAL disrespect... If I need to work on or open a file created in Word with Window XP (2001), I can do it perfectly with Windows 10!!!, the Document is the IMPORTANT thing!!).

What is this expensive chipset for? To update a system or to serve and "improve" our daily lives?

Gentlemen of Apple, the REAL VALUES are wrong in your updates.

83 replies

Oct 31, 2023 11:50 PM in response to TC2301

Would be great if someone can give a definitive answer to this. Not just speculation about 'old software'. There is no way i would upgraded my phone to 17 if I knew it was going break my link with my iMac running itunes 12.8.2.3

I'm currently unable to change my music, create a back-up on my iMac, etc.

From what I have read, its not possible to step back from 17 now either. I really hope this is not the case. How do I get back to 16?

Nov 4, 2023 9:27 AM in response to Servant of Cats

A quick update on this issue.

Following ddkwilson’s post suggesting iOS 17 would work with 10.13 High Sierra, I decided to risk my current old install of Adobe CS3 and upgrade to High Sierra.

I can report that having installed it, and run the required software updates from the Mac App Store including an update to iTunes, the required software update to connect an iPhone 13 running iOS 17 has now downloaded and installed, and I can again manage the phone through iTunes as before. CS3 still seems to work too which is a bonus.

I would therefore suggest upgrading to High Sierra if you can to resolve the issues with iOS 17.

Thanks for all the suggestions and help on here.

Nov 4, 2023 8:30 PM in response to liquidchild00

That's great news! What version of iTunes did you end up with? I'm on High Sierra 10.13.6, with iTunes 12.8.3.1, but still with no connection between my iPhone XS on iOS 17.1 and iTunes. I reinstalled High Sierra today, which now allows my to download photos again through the Photos app and Image Capture (didn't work yesterday). When I reinstalled High Sierra, iTunes wouldn't even give me the pop-up about needing a software update to connect to the iPhone. I reinstalled iTunes 12.8.3.1, and now it gives me the pop-up, which still fails with a network problem. Sigh. I'm on a late 2009 27" iMac, which has been quite problem free until now.

Nov 5, 2023 1:17 AM in response to iltb2000

I ended up with High Sierra 10.13.6, with iTunes 12.8.3.1 too, after installing all of the available software updates from the App Store. So it seems we’re running the same software.

The only things different are the hardware, namely my aging MacBook Pro mid 2012 and an iPhone 13.

But I can’t see how that would affect you differently? Surely it’s a software issue? This is the problem with technology isn’t it? So many variables always.

Hope you get it working anyway!

Nov 19, 2023 8:59 AM in response to ddkwilson

I have Iphone se second generation, High Sierra, MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014), Itunes 12.8.3 and since update to ios 17.1 Itunes no longer sees the iphone when it's connected.

I would really appreciate any support possible please. I had backed up the iphone to the computer before going to ios 17.1 but as it's not recognised by Itunes I would not be able to restore to latest backup.

I updated the ios via iphone itself because the download to itunes did not work.

Thank you.

Nov 19, 2023 6:27 PM in response to theulli

Hello. I have the same problem. I bought an iPhone 14 Pro, it came with iOS 16.7.1. I have a MBP 2011 latest series, iTunes DOES NOT recognize the phone! The same software notice appeared and ends by saying that this software is no longer available!!

In other words, Apple cut off communication between my Mac and the new phone WITHOUT prior notice! I have been punished for my purchase!... (I had iPhone 5; 5S; 2 x SE; 3 iPods; 1 iPad, and now the extraordinary 14Pro..., I consider myself an excellent customer and admirer of the Apple brand).

I can't even imagine updating to iOS 17!!, I'm sorry because I'm interested in the update to the camera, very important!

Something incredible!!, I have a PC at work with two OS: Windows 7 and Windows 10. In both operations I use iTunes.

iTunes on Windows 7 (2009 - older than EL Capitan!!!), PERFECTLY recognizes my 14Pro with 16.7.1!!!!.

Gentlemen of Apple, please, as loyal customers we need an URGENT solution to this problem! Our computers are MAC, your computers!! and NOT PC!!!.

Nov 26, 2023 5:34 PM in response to TC2301

I have had the same problem, found one solution, and am suggesting a second solution. The solution I used was to do a clean install of High Sierra on my 2009 iMac, connect my iPhone 15 running iOS 17, download (successfully) the update to iTunes, then restore my iMac from backups. Ugly, but it worked. Still cleaning up a few things. I was inspired by someone else in this discussion that found when they did a clean install of High Sierra to a USB, they were able to download the update. I tried the same thing and found it worked, so I thought I would do that on my SSD.


My theory is that if I had simply copied the updated iTunes app from the clean install on the USB stick to my existing SSD, I could have saved all the trouble in wiping and restoring my SSD. It appears that the only thing the download does for iOS 17 is to update the iTunes app, so I wish I would have tried that. I hope someone else can give that a try and post if it works! And save themselves a lot of trouble.

Nov 26, 2023 7:07 PM in response to polymorph23

It's not just the latest iTunes (12.8.3.1), but that version updated with the special download for iOS 17. Before the clean install, whenever I connected my iPhone, I would get the window saying that a download was needed to connect to that iPhone, which of course would never succeed ("network problem"). Once I was able to update iTunes after the clean install on the USB, I'm thinking that updated iTunes app file could just be copied over to an existing High Sierra installation and then iTunes should work. I think before I updated iTunes I could still see the iPhone in Photos, though, and definitely after the clean install. I'm thinking the clean install was not required in my case for the connection to Photos to work.

Nov 27, 2023 10:32 AM in response to TC2301

I'm having this problem too. How frustrating!!

Imac mid 2010 - High Sierra 10.13.6 - Itunes 12.8.3.1

Iphone 11 Pro - IOS 17.0.1


I found this thread which looks like it solves the problem, but it seems too advanced for me really!

Maybe someone else can make use of it:


Link: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/461301/mac-os-10-13-6-and-newer-mobile-devices-not-working-with-itunes-12-8-3-1-mobiled


Is iOS 17 compatible with itunes 12.8.2.3 under macOS Sierra 10.12.6?

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