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On my mac I've recently updated to the latest macOS version 10.13.5 and have installed Xcode 10 (beta 1). For my iPhone X there is an update available to 11.4 but i didn't install that yet. Now there is this weird pop up on my mac that keeps appearing, that I have never seen before:

enter image description here enter image description here

When the alert window is focused the menu in to top left corner of my screen doesn't change. So i can't tell from which application it's coming from, so I assume it's a system alert.

But the font size of the description is 12. Standard is 13. That popup doesn't look safe to me because of that and also the description is not really specific. I have 5 iOS devices connected.

I will update on my iPhone X directly and see if this popup still appears.

UPDATE

I've updated my iPhone X to iOS 11.4 but the pop up still appears.

UPDATE 2

I've found out that the popup is coming from a process called MobileDeviceUpdater

enter image description here

UPDATE 3

I've installed all updates to all my devices and the popup still appears.

UPDATE 4

I've sampled the process and it seems that it is an apple process.

Sampling process 14573 for 3 seconds with 1 millisecond of run time between samples
Sampling completed, processing symbols...
Analysis of sampling MobileDeviceUpdater (pid 14573) every 1 millisecond
Process:         MobileDeviceUpdater [14573]
Path:            /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework/Resources/MobileDeviceUpdater.app/Contents/MacOS/MobileDeviceUpdater
Load Address:    0x10d689000
Identifier:      com.apple.MobileDeviceUpdater
Version:         1.0 (1)
Build Info:      MobileDeviceUpdater-988200034100003~2
Code Type:       X86-64
Parent Process:  ??? [1]

Date/Time:       2018-06-08 14:45:55.105 +0200
Launch Time:     2018-06-08 13:28:48.013 +0200
OS Version:      Mac OS X 10.13.5 (17F77)
Report Version:  7
Analysis Tool:   /usr/bin/sample

Physical footprint:         15.4M
Physical footprint (peak):  16.1M

...

I didn't include the Call graph and the Binary images.

The binary is located at:

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework/Resources/MobileDeviceUpdater.app/Contents/MacOS/MobileDeviceUpdater

UPDATE 5

I've hit the Install button and it tried to download one item but wasn't able to.

enter image description here enter image description here

UPDATE 6

There is still nothing to update. The popup keeps appearing and fails every time I hit the Install button ...

lukwuerz
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  • Where is MobileDeviceUpdater located? You can sample the process to find out. – grg Jun 08 '18 at 11:10
  • As long as you don’t have anything suspicious or not popular apps / from the App Store, go ahead and install it. It’s probably just there was too much text that it downsized so it’s not a huge pop up. – NeuronButter Jun 08 '18 at 12:50
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    This seems like a very confusing and suspicious tool – However, it's official (see link below). The description is lacking clarity and I don't understand why such a tool is necessary... I wrote a feedback on: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208831 , asking for a better explanation. – skofgar Jun 22 '18 at 17:35
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    This is oddly preventing me from backing up my iPad. I plug it in to my Mac and the iPad cycles between disconnecting/reconnecting every time this modal pops up. – ray Jul 02 '18 at 01:59
  • Thank you for your work to let me know it is a trustworthy popup. And a same question on Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/8xong9/a_software_update_is_required_to_connect_to_iphone/ – Bruce Sep 30 '18 at 01:21
  • I too was experiencing this issue - I can't post the fix as an answer, as I do not have enough reputation - but I no longer get this issue after allowing iTunes to sync my phone - As I never use iTunes, I had never previously needed to, but I noticed along with the update prompt - iTunes had a screen showing Setup new phone / Restore from backup. Clicking on Setup new phone did the trick. – William George Nov 04 '18 at 21:58
  • https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8456532 Trying with different cable worked out as mentioned in the thread – dev4u Dec 10 '18 at 20:38
  • UPDATE 7? Use the Terminal: sudo softwareupdate -i -a solved it for me http://osxdaily.com/2011/01/13/install-mac-os-x-software-updates-terminal – malix Jun 04 '19 at 14:11
  • Can we update the title to be a question so we know what solution is being sought after? – harperville Feb 17 '21 at 13:56
  • I found this solution: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/461301/mac-os-10-13-6-and-newer-mobile-devices-not-working-with-itunes-12-8-3-1-mobiled It did require a reboot on High Sierra. – Sherwood Botsford Jun 24 '23 at 18:22

4 Answers4

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In some cases, the problem can be fixed by installing Xcode beta. ( The original question is within a context where Xcode is already a beta version ).

This error occurs when the version of macOS ( or iTunes or Xcode ) running on the computer is not compatible with the version of iOS on the device you're trying to connect.

Normally, updating the macOS to its current version could solve the problem. However, this won't work if the iOS device is running a newer beta version, and the Mac is not.

If you don't want to run the beta version of macOS (or downgrade the iOS device to a non-beta version), a solution is to install the beta version of Xcode.

Even though you may have no use for Xcode itself, its beta version includes the necessary software patches which will allow your existing macOS (and iTunes) to support devices running the iOS beta.

Download the Xcode beta from: https://developer.apple.com/download

The xip file will (eventually) unarchive into the full Xcode app. Drag it into your Applications folder, and then be sure to start Xcode. At that point it will install the necessary software components for the latest iOS beta. When it asks to open or create a project, you can quit Xcode.

iTunes could now recognize the iOS device.

Reference: https://ios.gadgethacks.com/how-to/fix-software-update-is-required-connect-your-iphone-warning-your-mac-0185898/

dan
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user294494
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  • Answers should be more than just a link. Links can break anytime rendering a linkonly answer useless. Please summarize the relevant content of the linked page directly into your answer (and leave the link for reference). The idea is to make the answer stand on its own. – nohillside Jul 12 '18 at 11:45
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    I have the latest (stable) versions both iOS and macOS, no Xcode and it still appears continuously. And the battery/charging icon on the phone keeps showing on and off. – Alex Aug 21 '18 at 09:53
  • @Alex Exactly the same issue here – Django Reinhardt Oct 15 '18 at 21:17
  • Same here, just downloading Xcode beta to see if it will be fixed. I ues iOS 12 beta then upgrade to GM version, since GM is the release version there is not other update to show. Then I update to Mojave(not beta), reconnect keep going on. Update to iOS 12.0.1 still appears often. – Yam Oct 20 '18 at 17:14
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    This answer didn't work for me. But here's what does: I plug the iphone cord into an unpowered 4-port USB hub, which is plugged into my macbook pro USB port. The iPhone charges slower, but the loop is broken. (issues with both iPhone 5s & iPhone XS, Macbook Pro mid-2015, Mojave/10.14) – Jake Berger Nov 14 '18 at 18:27
  • This could be the solution if betas are involved, but the problem appears even if there are no beta versions of any software. For example, I have the same issue with the latest (stable) versions of MacOS (10.13.6 as of the time of writing this), iOS (12.1), iTunes (12.8) and Xcode (10.1 which is the latest for High Sierra). – lupincho Nov 25 '18 at 07:40
  • And Apple's service is just shite. Called them multiple times for about an hour per call about this issue ... nothing. Sent them my full diagnostics results ... never even heard back. Every time I call it's like they've never even heard of this issue which seems to affect quite a lot of people. Total incompetence there. And by the way, the Xcode beta solution from above does not always work, at least it didn't work for me. – drct Dec 18 '18 at 18:03
  • Since no newer beta of Xcode was available for me I had a look at iTunes. I tried: A. Signing out and in again - did not work, B. Deleting the device backup in iTunes settings - worked. So deleting device backups might work to solve this issue. – drct Dec 18 '18 at 21:20
  • No, didn't work in the end. The error is back. – drct Dec 22 '18 at 12:07
  • I can confirm that the solution suggested by @JakeBerger (to use an USB hub) works. I had no betas installed and the accepted answer was irrelevant. Installing the latest betas just to see what would happen didn't work either. Using different cables, including a brand new original Apple cable didn't work either. Using an USB hub fixed the issue. – lupincho Dec 31 '18 at 09:07
  • After a little bit of fiddling with the same issue, I found that Applications on High Sierra are incompatible with iOS 12.1.2+, However; installing the latest stable version of XCode (which is found on the Mac App Store for free) will resolve this issue system wide because it installs the missing Mobile Framework.... Yes, install 12gb of developer tools just to get a single framework to sync your itunes. #Apple – user1053263 Jan 03 '19 at 21:40
  • I'm having this sort of trouble with an iPhone XS and Mojave. Just tried another the cable, the one that came with the iPhone XS instead of the one that came with my iPhone 5s (which I was using until now) and it connected correctly in an instant and the connection seems to be stable, no disconnects so far. – drct Jan 16 '19 at 13:45
  • This answer doesn't seem to have been verified since the same problem appears: • with standard Xcode 9.3, • with standard Xcode 10.1, • without any version of Xcode. – dan Aug 03 '23 at 21:13
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I received this error today. I have macOS Mojave and iOS 12 on an iPhone X. I used the phone with the mac for many minutes, then closed the lid (sleeping the machine) and re-opened it a few minutes later, and that's when the message appeared (the first one). I similarly found the popup to be suspicious.

It seems Apple has some bugs in their MobileDeviceUpdater software that cause this message to pop up spuriously.

Jason R. Coombs
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This is happening to me with a MacBook Pro running High Sierra 10.13.6 and an iPhone X and iPad Pro running iOS 12.1. Apple support have told me that the solution is to upgrade to macOS Mojave, but I don't want to upgrade my entire OS at the moment. The error only occurs sporadically for me. Other people have reported that trying a different Lightning cable might work, or that the error only occurs when the phone is below a certain level of battery charge.

Stewart Macdonald
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This is a result of Xcode 10 Beta 1 being installed, as far as I know. It no longer occurs.

Ezekiel
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