iPhone XR not showing in iTunes on iMac

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Level 1

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iPhone XR not showing in iTunes on iMac

Problem: I’m using an iPhone XR (OS 13.2.3) and I prefer to backup the phone to my iMac (mid 2011 model running High Sierra). I last backed up my phone to the computer on September 30 2019. Last week, I noticed that my phone no longer shows up in iTunes. However, it shows up everywhere else on the computer (System Profiler, Photos, receiving of system prompts to “Trust the phone”).

Troubleshooting efforts: When looking on Apple Support for remedies, articles refer to upgrading to Catalina, which my computer does not support. I even tried plugging in another XR to see if the issue was the phone, and the same behavior occurs. Unfortunately upgrading my computer is not a financially feasible option at this time.

Commentary: I’m wondering if this is a bug related to the decommissioning of iTunes in Catalina, and hope that Apple restores this access. However I feel it’s more a ploy to get customers to spend more on a new computer or purchase ongoing iCloud storage.

iMac 21.5", macOS 10.14

Posted on Dec 28, 2019 3:38 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Rachael Hurd Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 3, 2020 3:56 AM in response to brenden dv

Hello Brendan,

Thank you for getting back to me. Despite my skepticism, I did go through all the steps in the first article. When I went to reset the location/privacy settings on the phone, my computer gave me a notice regarding an update needed on the phone (which was interesting because the phone never said one was needed). So I went ahead and did it. 15+ minutes later, it disappeared. When I then went to open iTunes on the computer, the phone was showing in Tunes.

So...weird. But it looks like there's some other update that has to be done for the phone to show in iTunes on older computers. A third phone I have access to (an iPhone 7 running 13.3) previously mentioned had the same thing happen when I plugged it in, so I'll go ahead and install that to see if it works for it too.

Thanks for your time, Brendan!

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Answer 2

brenden dv

Community Specialist

Dec 31, 2019 11:03 AM in response to Rachael Hurd

Hi Rachael Hurd,

Thank you for using the Apple Support Communities! I understand iTunes is no longer recognizing your iPhone XR, and I'd like to help.

I know you mentioned that your iPhone is recognized by other applications except iTunes. I would still recommend following each step in this support article to troubleshoot this issue: If your computer doesn't recognize your iPhone, iPad, or iPod - Apple Support. This includes making sure you have the latest iTunes version available for your macOS.

I would also suggest trying to reset your Trust settings to see if this helps solve the issue. To do this, follow the steps under, 'Get help' in this support article: About the 'Trust This Computer' alert on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support.

Keep me posted on the results. Regards.

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iPhone XR not showing in iTunes on iMac

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