Why won't my iPod connect to Mac after macOS Sequoia update?

I have two older iPod models (a Classic 5th gen and a Nano gen 3). Both worked fine under Sonoma running on my Mac mini M1. (including sync to the Music app).

Since the Sequoia upgrade, they will not connect to my Mac via USB. The Finder will recognize the device, but states that the device could not be read, and that I should click "Restore" to restore the device to factory settings. Unfortunately, the attempt to factory restore the iPod doesn't work either.

Anyone else seeing this issue? I hate to have to keep an older Mac around just to sync these devices.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Feb 19, 2025 08:34 PM

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PERockwell Author

Level 1

92 points

Posted on May 13, 2025 01:22 PM

Sequoia 15.5 seems to have changed things (somewhat for the better).

I initially connected my iPod and it had indicated that it was still unable to read the device. I then got the screen where it offered to restore the software on the device. I chose that option.

This time, I received a dialog asking permission for an macOS background service to restore the iPod (I think it was the AMPDeviceDiscoveryAgent). This time the iPod got wiped, but after the wipe, the device is properly recognized when connected and disconnected. (I also was able to disable the ability to use this device for disk storage the first time that the device was properly recognized).

I tried this on a second old iPod nano. This device no longer had problems being recognized. The content I'd had on the nano was still there.

And I just tried it on an old iPod Shuffle that didn't work before. Now is recognized as it was before. Content still there.

I'm wondering if that dialog asking for permissions may be the thing that got things working...

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Why won't my iPod connect to Mac after macOS Sequoia update?

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