I have an iPhone 12 and a 2017 iMac, both updated to the latest iOS and MacOS respectfully. For a few days, I've been able to back up the iPhone, but it consistently gets stuck on 'Preparing to Sync'
I've restarted both the phone and the Mac, and it hasn't resolved the problem.
What should I do?
iMac 21.5″, macOS 13.6
Solved. Mine was hanging on step 2 (preparing to sync) several tries and for hours and after trying reboots etc.
My iPhone Hot Spot was ON and my MacBook wifi was using my iPhone Hot Spot, not my home wifi. I turned off my iPhone Hot Spot and made sure my MacBook connected to my home wifi and the sync worked.
So, make sure your phone Hot Spot it turned off and your MacBook-wifi is not connected to your phone when backing up or syncing your phone to your MacBook.
yes, iCloud sync is a good practice. However, if you need to restore your phone using a MacBook or if you are swapping to a different iPhone and need to sync it "on the spot" using a Mac, you need to be able to make it work. (or if you need more iCloud than you have).. So I'm offering a tip one what was causing mine to hang, in case anyone els is having the same issue and didn't realize it was the "hot spot" being on.
Also, use the other tips on here such as checking for a bad cord. that can happen also... but wasn't in my case, even after putting a brand new cord.
This tread can help others eliminate possible issues with syncing.
:-)
Please turn on ICloud and your devices will sync automatically.
That probably would’ve worked too.
What fixed it was switching to a new cable, the old one wasn’t working quite right.
Thank you.
Preparing to Sync taking forever
