OS Tahoe & IOS26.0 Itunes / Music does not sync nor settings any longer accessible

Question

OS Tahoe & IOS26.0 Itunes / Music does not sync nor settings any longer accessible

Good day everyone.

MacBook Pro with Tahoe 26.0 & Iphone 15 Pro Max with IOS 26.0.

I still have ITunes (now Music) but do not want to get Apple Music subscription, as I have been using Itunes since its inauguration and have thousands of music tracks, movies and shows.

Prior to updating to Tahoe 26.0 and when I open Music on my MacBook, I could set the sncy settings i.e. which playlist and/or artist (especially newly purchased tracks) to transfer to my Iphone.

This now does not work any more.

The "SyncSettings" button top right corner on the Music application on my MacBook is not accessible anymore. My Iphone is shown within the Music app on the MacBook, and when I left/right click the symbol I can sync, but the playlists and artists are not sycnd in reality to my IPhone.

Today I created 2 more playlists and they also do not get sncyd. What is on my IPhone Music is only the Playlists and Artists which I have sncyd before I upgraded to Tahoe.

I re-booted both devices, de- and reauthorized devices, signed in and out of my Apple ID etc .... all to no avail. No further updates are available.

Can only assume this is a bug with the new Tahoe software, which does not recognize the "older Music" versions like Itunes sync settings .... I still want and need this, so would appreciate any one out there to be please check / provide guidance. Cheers and have a wonderful day.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 26.0

Posted on Sep 24, 2025 12:53 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 24, 2025 6:38 PM in response to marianfrom201204

I fixed my problem by turning off my VPN during syncing. Not sure why iTunes won’t sync with it on now, but that fixes it every time.

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Answer 2

Oct 12, 2025 7:31 AM in response to marianfrom201204

I'm having the same syncing issues. Try syncing from finder instead of in iTunes. This is what worked for me.

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Answer 3

Nov 9, 2025 4:05 AM in response to batting3rd

I can confirm, that after updating both my iPhone and MacBook to 26.1., iTunes sync settings work flawlessly.

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Answer 4

Oct 23, 2025 11:03 AM in response to dantron-z

Also, if you're using a VPN turn it off. For whatever reason it won't sync with a VPN on

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Answer 5

Oct 9, 2025 2:25 PM in response to marianfrom201204

I had the same issue. Control + press the mouse pad with the curser on your phone under devises and select sync. That worked for me.

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Answer 6

Nov 9, 2025 4:06 AM in response to marianfrom201204

Updating your iPhone and MacBook to latest 26.1. fixes this issue completely.

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Answer 7

Nov 13, 2025 12:09 PM in response to marianfrom201204

I have this same issue. The "Sync Settings" button is there - but not "clickable". I did notice however, that if I right-click my mouse on my phone in the "Devices" menu, "Sync" is an option. I've selected it - but nothing seems to happen. Taking too long for this glitch to be fixed. I suspect if I update my phone to IOS 26 - it will probably resolve. However, iOS26 is a hog when it comes to space - and I didn't really want to delete half my programs to make room.

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Answer 8

Sep 25, 2025 6:06 PM in response to marianfrom201204

Same issue. All my playlists on my iPhone disappeared. they're still on my MacBook but no way to sync them to my phone. I don't want to spend all the time it would take to re-create them on my phone too. I really hope Apple is working on a fix for this.

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Answer 9

Oct 4, 2025 10:55 PM in response to wolvesfan32

Latest update did not fix this; even worse: now the majority of the Album covers in my Itunes library and on my IPhone have no more Album Artwork. Approximately 85% of all my Playlists now have like a reddish/white mix of bland Album cover. The individual Album artwork however remains for now.

It was important for me to have a specific Album cover from my respective favourite track on the Playlist Album cover, making it very easy for me to scroll and pick without the necessity to read the Playlists alphabetic order and/or name.

Unsure why Apple has introduced this modification with the latest update, however any one from Apple Support reading:

it is obvious there is an issue with Apple ITunes/Music, please do not neglect this and apply a fix very soon.

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Answer 10

Oct 5, 2025 1:29 PM in response to marianfrom201204

I manually manage music on my phone vs using sync and keep a large library of imported, bit perfect music. Previously, in Music (used to be iTunes) I could select songs or whole albums and transfer them to my phone via USB connect to my macbook. With MacOS 26, that feature has disappeared. I have no desired to sync my library with Apple's cloud environment.

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Answer 11

Oct 9, 2025 11:35 PM in response to rspencer99

Good day and thank you for your suggestion.

I just tried it - unfortunately it did not work. I created a few "dummy" playlists on my MacBook to check if they would sync, but that did not happen.

When I open the Music APP on my MacBook, I still can not even click the "Settings" button on the top right corner.

Hence, regretfully, the issue remains.

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Answer 12

Oct 25, 2025 9:49 PM in response to dantron-z

Hello dantron-z,

Thank you for your recommendations.

I do not have a VPN; also the Finder would not work.

At the moment I am creating and working on Playlists on my I-Phone (which is cumbersome to say the least) and I am hoping for Apple to address this obvious issue with I-Tunes in a near update.

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Answer 13

Oct 25, 2025 9:55 PM in response to batting3rd

Hello batting3rd,

Thanks for chiming in on this.

What you can do is to upvote and click the "Me too" button in the relevant post, and my first initial post, then this gets more pushed upward in the Apple queue, cause it reaches a certain visibility.

Mind you though, that there is a notion to opt for Apple Music as I-Tunes is a "old child" somehow for Apple.'That is a true pity, as there are so many of us who still really like and work within the I-Tunes environment.

Not every progress and "new best thing" has to be absorbed by the community.

If you click on the "Subscribe" button on my initial post, you will be notified within your Apple environment of updates to this topic. Or, what I do, simply check back in every 2 to 3 weeks to see how this wonderful topic evolves over time and will get fixed (hopefully).

Cheers,

Mark

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Answer 14

Nov 14, 2025 12:11 AM in response to sdcincanada

Hello sdcincanada, update may be large in size, however it does fix the issue.

I am fortunate enough to have large storage devices, so that was never the issue for me.

I rather have the iTunes functionality fully restored in terms of sync with my iPhone, as I "depend" on my Playlists whilst driving and relaxing/working.

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Answer 15

Nov 23, 2025 11:07 AM in response to marianfrom201204

iTunes had the capability to arrange my apps on my iPhone. I would plug my iPhone into my Mac and start iTunes. iTunes had the ability to rearrange iPhone apps on the Mac by dragging them with the mouse which was a lot easier than dragging them with my finger on the iPhone screen. This feature disappered with iTunes in the Tahoe 26.1 update.

There are many other issues I have with 26.1 especially on my Mac mini. It totally messed up my desktop, changing folders, automatically putting documents in folders when I simply want them left of the screen. Apple says Tahoe is "fresh and friendly". It may be fresh with liquid glass but it certainly isn't friendly.

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