iPhone only partially recognized my iMac

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Level 1

18 points

iPhone only partially recognized my iMac

I have an iPhone 8+ running iOS 14.4 and an iMac running Catalina 10.15.7. When I plug my phone into my iMac, a window pops up with my phone as its name. There are two buttons: Check for Update, and Restore iPhone. However, the Check for Update is grayed out. In addition, when I open the Music app, my phone shows up in the list of devices, but when I click on it, it says, "The selected device could not be found," which means it doesn't sync.

This has been going on for a while (a few months?), but hasn't always been this way. What can I do to get my Mac to fully recognize my phone?

iPhone 8 Plus

Posted on Apr 10, 2021 3:29 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Old Toad

Level 10

210,615 points

Apr 10, 2021 10:22 AM in response to hdulc

The latest iOS for the iPhone is 14.4.2. On you iPhone go to Settings/General/Softwarte Update and see if you can install the latest update.

Then connect the iPhone to your Mac with it's USB cable and, if you get a Trust message select Trust (or whatever it's called).

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Answer 2

hdulc Author

Level 1

18 points

Apr 10, 2021 4:31 AM in response to hdulc

My phone appears in the sidebar, but I don't see any way to sync it. I've attached a picture of the window that appears when I select my phone. Step 3 of the link you posted says to select the type of content I want to sync, but I don't see where to do that.

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Answer 3

hdulc Author

Level 1

18 points

Apr 10, 2021 4:59 AM in response to SeaPapp

I haven't force restarted the phone, but I've done regular restarts on occasion - I think the most recent was last week, and the problem predates that. Yes, I have successfully synced in the past. I don't recall when the problem started, but I've had the phone since about 2017 and the computer's even older. I'm almost certain that I've successfully synced after upgrading the iMac to Catalina.

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Answer 4

SeaPapp

Level 7

26,486 points

Apr 10, 2021 4:24 AM in response to hdulc

Beginning with Catalina iOS device management is handled through the Finder, does your iPhone show up in the Finder sidebar? Sync iPhone with your computer - Apple Support

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Answer 5

SeaPapp

Level 7

26,486 points

Apr 10, 2021 4:54 AM in response to hdulc

Have you tried to force restart your iPhone? Have you ever synced the phone with that computer before?

This is what the screen should look like

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Answer 6

SeaPapp

Level 7

26,486 points

Apr 10, 2021 5:29 AM in response to hdulc

Then you should be able to restore the iphone and then restore from your most recent backup. You will lose content on the phone that is newer than the backup.

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