Unable to Sync iPhone Xr with Apple Devices on Windows 11

OK... I this is my last post on this topic... and although I have "an answer of sorts", it isn't the one I was hoping for.

First: I completed the update to iOS 18.2 on my 5th Gen iPad Pro and tried that and had no better success.

Next: I dug out my now rarely-used LG Gram laptop - which is running Windows 10 Pro 64... and installed Apple Devices on there. I was able to get both my iPhone and iPad to connect more completely using the LG Gram. This doesn't really make much sense to me, because I never had any trouble accessing either iOS Device from my main PC when using iTunes, only with Apple Devices.

What I got from Devices running on the Gram was that although it could see, connect and interact with the iPad Pro, as far as it was concerned, there was some kind of error or issue with my iPhone Xr. The on-screen display, in Devices on the LG Gram, told me to perform a "factory reset" of the Xr and start over. Well, since my Xr is running the 2FA software I need to log in to work - and seeing as I'm a home-based worker - there is no way I'm going to tempt fate and try and sort out the Xr with a factory reset. The interesting thing here is that iTunes used to work perfectly on my PC, but Apple Devices does not... Obviously I don't know what Apple have changed under the hood, but if I can't actually operate and support my personal devices, that is a complete deal-breaker for me.

My plans for the New Year had included a drive to my nearest Apple Store to pick up an iPhone 16 Pro Max and an Apple Watch Ultra. I'm so grateful to this issue for forcing me to revisit that decision and instead I'm going to bite the bullet and switch to Samsung. I'm currently deeply invested in the Apple ecosystem, but I am just completely disillusioned by the ineffective, intolerant and unreliable software that Apple are shipping now.

I simply can't justify throwing good money after bad.

I'd like to express my genuine appreciation for the volunteers who stepped in to try and help me with this issue... it was sincerely appreciated, even if we were unable to overcome flaws in Apple's shoddy software.

Thank you.

Hello Alancito and thanks for responding.

Before I provide the detailed answers to your questions, can I just clarify that the issue I have is not anything to do with iOS update, but with the inability of the fully updated iPhone to connect to my PC using the new Apple Devices software.

Maximum Battery Capacity: 85%

Peak Performance Capability: Yes

Optimized Battery Charging: Yes

And to repeat... The issue is that when I connect the iPhone to my PC via a USB/Lightning Port cable, the "Devices" software asks me to click "Trust" in the Application Window and then "Trust" on the handset... and this process doesn't work. The iPhone is running iOS just fine. What is more frustrating is that "Apple Devices" clearly detects the presence of the iPhone - and correctly interrogates it - because it comes back to me with the correct handset name. So there is clearly a basic handshake operational, which tells me that I don't have a problem with the connection or cable.

I have now tried 2 different Lightning cables and I've also tried connecting the PC end in to different USB ports.

Nothing makes a difference.

OK, with a little more time available, I've now been able to test my setup, but this time I've used one of my 2 iPad Pro tablets, with exactly the same symptoms/errors as observed using the iPhone Xr. The iPad in question is a 5th Generation iPad Pro 12.9" running iPad OS 17.6.1.

Having confirmed that this does not work using 17.6.1, I am now in the process of updating the iPad to 18.2 and will re-test once that update is complete.

However, all the evidence I can generate here suggests that the problem exists with the "Apple Devices" application - since the symptoms are not iDevice-specific.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to anything I can test to see what is happening with Apple Devices? Are there log files I can check to figure out what is going wrong?

Thanks in advance.

Thank you... I checked [on the iPad] and I see 3 events with today's date: a "JetsamEvent", a "ResetCounter" and a "SiriSearchFeedback", none of which contain anything that looks very helpful.

In parallel, I've been trying to eliminate as many other possibilities as I can think of. The machine I'm using was new in February of this year and uses an Asus ROG Strix B760i Gaming Wifi motherboard... Even though I'm using one of the rear USB Type A ports to connect my iPhone and iPad, I checked the BIOS and see that a new BIOS was issued on November 12th... There's also a "USB4 PCIE Gen4 Card" Firmware update for "USB4 device compatibility" and lastly an "Intel ME Update Tool", which was published on 11/11 and refers to a "security issue that could potentially place impacted platform at risk"... which is absolutely no help since of course vulnerabilities are vector-specific and this doesn't tell us if exploit is network-enabled or requires physical access...

My iPad has just finished updating to 18.2, so I'm going to test that next... Then, if that doesn't work, I'll try a BIOS update on my motherboard...

If you can think of anything else I can/should be trying, please feel free to suggest away.

Thanks again for your kind support.