iPhone 16 Pro not detected by iTunes on old Mac running Mojave

Hello,

I just received my new iPhone 16 Pro, upgrading from my iPhone XS.

So far, I have been using my old MacBook Pro from 2012 running MacOS Mojave 10.14 with iTunes 12.9 for regularly backing up my old iPhone XS. No issue.

In the set up process of my new iPhone 16 Pro, I tried to import my last iPhone XS backup from iTunes but I was surprised my new iPhone 16 Pro is not detected once plugged in... After multiple attempts with different cables, I tried to restart both the iPhone and the MacBook, no success. So instead of using iTunes to import my last backup, I did the Quick Transfer from iPhone to iPhone to import my data which works fine.

Now I am trying to sync my new iPhone 16 Pro to my MacBook 2012 (like I used to do with my iPhone XS) but it still doesn't work... The iPhone 16 Pro is still not detected. Software is up to date.

I understand my MackBook is pretty old but I am still surprised as the technical specs for the iPhone 16 Pro on the Apple site specifically states that (I quote):

"syncing to a Mac or PC requires:

• macOS Catalina 10.15 or later using the Finder
• macOS High Sierra 10.13 through macOS Mojave 10.14.6 using iTunes 12.8 or later".

I would like to avoid subscribing to iCloud+ if possible. Is there any way that I can continue using my MacBook with iTunes to sync and backup like I used to?

Thank you.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]