If you want a copy today: Apple human interface guidelines : the Apple desktop interface : Apple Computer, Inc : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
The full text isn’t available on-line, but you can log on with an account and download it for a 14-day loan (like a public library).
Although the book is copyrighted, people have put full-text copies of various editions on-line. A web search can find them:
Thank you for posting this. FYI: I have a hardcopy of the original book. - The 1982 edition.
for those claiming this doesn’t happen if you disable backups, please enlighten me as to how to do that. i only see an option to backup to either icloud or the local device but nothing to forgo backups entirely. assume this is one of those “easily” discoverable features the fruities are notorious for.
iphone13m on ios16.3 but holding off updating its host to osx18.2 …
There’s no way to disable backups as such; you simply don’t sync, which also means not backing up because backups preceed syncs. You can do that by either turning off the automatic sync checkbox, or alternatively you could disable Wi-Fi sync, which would then limit your backup/sync to direct cable connections.
But it would be great if you could explicitly disable backup, though. For right now, I’ve just started using iCloud, with the absurd consequence that I’ve had to upgrade to the 200 GB plan because I’m using 50.2 GB of storage. It’s not so very funny.
that was my assumption. thanks for the sanity check.
for me, not syncing is right out. i’ve a playlist strategy that depends on regularly syncing the phone to remove recently played tracks from it (there’s nothing worse than plugging your phone into the car and hearing the same track every single time). plus my music library far exceeds the capacity of the phone. syncing is the only way to cycle through tracks.
appears the only solution is to keep nagging apple to fix this inane “security” feature. think it’s time to escalate it to the cook man hisself.
Or, as we discovered earlier in this thread, you can perform a sync and then click/tap “cancel” when the backup step asks for your passcode. The rest of the sync will proceed normally without making a backup.
I have also had this problem of “trust this computer” every time I try to back it up to my Mac. After spending a half an hour or more on the phone with Apple support, we discovered that in the settings for your iPad under “face ID & passcode” scrolling towards the bottom, there is a switch for accessories, which says “turn off to prevent accessories from connecting when your iPad has been locked for more than an hour.” Since the iPad has been off for an hour, we suspected that that is why is asking for a passcode. Switching this off and switching it on allows accessories to connect when the iPad has been locked for more than an hour. So far, I have not gotten the request to enter my password in order to do the back up.
Kudos to Rob 3rd(?) level support in Wisconsin.
The problem also shows up when an iPhone is on and has already been authenticated. It’s not an issue of locked/unlocked. Whenever it tries to back up, it will first ask for authentication. Even when it’s already been authenticated. 
I suspect the reason you think it went away is because it does not back up on every sync if the most recent backup has already occurred within the last day. So the reason it’s no longer asking you to authenticate is because it’s only syncing. Put that iPad aside for two days and try again. It will then attempt to back up and thus it will ask for authentication again. Even if the device has already been turned on and authenticated.
Or force the issue by selecting the iPad in the Finder and clicking “Back up all of the data on your iPad to this Mac”. I’m betting with @Simon: The authentication prompt will show regardless of the setting for the option you and Apple support discovered.
Simon, I am afraid you are correct. Sorry for raising false hope. I should have waited longer…
It is absolutely discouraging sometimes to learn that Apple does not communicate changes like this well within their support people. This person wasted both your time and theirs trying out different options when they should have known of this change.
I’m guessing you aren’t talking about iTunes or iMazing. I’ve always had the Back-up feature in iTunes set to “Manual” and there isn’t an auto back-up setting in iMazing.
I’m not sure if this is an expansion of the issue noted in the original article, or if I just recently noticed it (I’m on macOS Ventura 13.2.1). The last couple times I’ve restarted my MBP M1 Pro, it’s asked me whether or not to allow a connection from my CalDigit Element TB4 hub. It’s particularly annoying, because I run the Mac in clamshell mode with two external monitors. Those monitors (you guessed it) are connected via the hub. So the user experience is Restart, then…black screens. Not until I lift the lid of the Mac do I see the alert. Once I allow the connection, all proceeds normally. Really annoying.
That’s interesting. Not seeing that here between Elements Hub and my M1 Pro 14". But I’m on 13.3.1 right now.
I know for sure Apple has changed something there. Before the 13.3 update a USB-connected SATA SSD would routinely fail to auto-mount ~ every other connection. Now it always comes up as it should, but its desktop icon will lag (you can’t select or drag it, but it shows) for a few seconds when it gets mounted. I’ve been seeing this both with the hub and without so my guess is this is more related to macOS’ handling of USB than TB. It’s great that things are getting fixed (at least partially) but it’s also a bit frustrating that Apple’s release notes make zero mention of any such changes.