How can I stop my iPad from automatically syncing with MacBook Pro?

As soon as I connect the iPad, it automatically tries to sync, and never finishes. I want to know how to stop this before connecting the iPad. If I could stop it before plugging in; I could change options until I found out what was hanging it up. #3 below is MacBook Pro and Carl's New iPad, which is not an option. Also my OS is Ventura, which is also not an option below. And no, I am not going to update to Sequoia. I am going to ride this OS until I either get another Mac or blow off Apple altogether. There is just barely room on this thing for the OS, and I have over 150 gigabytes of Music & Photos that have to be on an external drive. Every OS update completely hoses up this arrangement, often forcing me to recover photos and music from backups. Apple and apple support has really turned into a hot mess.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Automatic Sync iPad to MacBook Pro