Can I backup iPhone running iOS 13 to Mac running Mojave?

Hi LawrenceJohn99,

From what you said, a couple of things come to mind:

1. An iOS software update <---- Try this first.
2. Updates to MacOS Mojave

The first thing I would do is try updating iOS. Apple released iOS 13.1.3 reciently. You could try updating iOS to see if that resolves the issue.

What version of MacOS Mojave are you currently running? You can check by going to the Apple Menu > About this Mac. It could be that it's asking to update to the latest version of Mojave if you aren't already up to date. Apple did release a supplemental update to Mojave recently.

If you go to Software Update from about this Mac there should be a line under the update for Catalina that says More. . . if you click that it will allow you to install any updates that are available to only MacOS Mojave.

You can also check to see if iMazing is up to date. Go to iMazing in the menu bar and come down to Check for Updates.

I hope this helps and let us know how it goes.

LawrenceJohn99 wrote:

I receive this message when trying to backup iOS 13.1.2 with iTunes in Mojave: "A software update is required to connect to your iOS device. Would you like to download and install this update now?"

I received the same message. That was a minor iTunes update that has to be applied in order to be able to sync. If you say yes to that and allow the update to complete, you should be able to sync and backup.

These are the minimum requirements to sync an iOS 13 device on a Mac or a PC. I made the type bold for emphasis.

Syncing to a Mac or PC requires:

• macOS Catalina 10.15 using the Finder
• macOS El Capitan 10.11.6 through macOS Mojave 10.14.6 using iTunes 12.8 or later
• Windows 7 or later using iTunes 12.10 or later (free download from itunes.com/download)

I am running El Capitan and I sync and backup with my Mac every couple of weeks with no issues at all.

Hi LawrenceJohn99,

I see that you don't want to upgrade your Mac to Catalina.

To backup your iPhone to your Mac running Mojave, connect your iPhone to your Mac using a lightening cable. iTunes should open automatically when it detects your iPhone, if it doesn't, open iTunes from your dock.

A message might come up on your iPhone saying to trust device, click Trust. From the summary screen in iTunes of your device, under backups click the Back Up Now button.

I hope this helps.

The short answer is yes. The minimum requirements to backup and sync an iOS 13 device on a Mac are iTunes 12.8 or later and El Capitan 10.11.6.

I am still running El Capitan and have been syncing and backing up with iTunes since I update my devices to iOS 13.

About this Mac. It could be that it's asking to update to the latest version of Mojave if you aren't already up to date. Apple did release a supplemental update to Mojave recently.

You have a good point about updating Mojave if is there is an update, but I’m pretty sure that the message that LawrenceJohn99 is getting is referring to a minor update to iTunes. I have seen this a number of times. I had to apply the update when I first synced after updating my phone and iPad to iOS 13.

Hi LawrenceJohn99,

Ok, let's try this.

Let's check to make sure MacOS Mojave is up to date.

Go to the Apple Menu > System Preferences > Software Update. There should be a line under the update for Catalina that says More. . . if you click that it will allow you to install any updates that are available to only MacOS Mojave.

The second thing would be to update iOS to 13.1.3 as you have 13.1.12 currently as Apple just released an update not long ago.

After doing these two things backup in iTunes should work.

I hope this helps.

Hi LawrenceJohn99,

I'm so glad you were able to solve your issue. Yes, the message to update you received in iTunes probably was a minor update to iTunes itself to enable syncing to your iPhone XR.

I'm glad we could help.

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