Hello! Running 15.7.9 on a M2 Max with iOS 26.6 installed. Saw this “?” inside my iPhone 17 Pro icon in the Finder’s window. Anyone know what it means?
Thanks
My guess is that you need to install a mobile software update on your Mac. It can happen any time the version of your Mac’s OS and your iPhone’s OS aren’t the same. Look for a dialog like this on your Mac:
I needed to install it after updating my Mac to 15.7.9. It’s not an update that is delivered through the usual Software Update system in System Settings, but rather directly delivered through a Finder dialog.
If you don’t see it, it probably will pop up again eventually, or it may be hidden behind other windows in the Finder. You might try rebooting your Mac and reconnecting your phone to see it.
The update will contain the latest set of mobile device icons and updated information about new devices.
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It should appear whenever you connect the USB cable.
If you dismiss it by clicking “Not Now”, then it will go away. To bring it back, disconnect and reconnect the USB cable.
Josehill et al;
I saw that popup box but since it was VERY SHORT on what EXACTLY it was going to update, I deferred.
Now that I have allowed to do it, the “?” Has disappeared.
What I am absolutely clueless is what software was it updating and how can I determine that in advance?
Lal
Josehill et al;
I saw that popup box but since it was VERY SHORT on what EXACTLY it was going to update, I deferred.
Now that I have allowed to do it, the “?” Has disappeared.
What I am absolutely clueless is what software was it updating and how can I determine that in advance?
Lal
I forget exactly what would appear if you had clicked the “Learn More…” button, but I think it may be this page that offers the following statement:
Older software on your Mac needs to be updated to support newer software on your iPhone, iPad, or iOS device.
This downloads a package that includes updated components for communicating between your Mac and your iDevices. It also includes a package containing the current versions of Apple device icons.
I agree that Apple could provide a little more detail about what exactly is updated, especially since the mechanism of updating is unusual, but it actually is a pretty small update. The unusual mechanism is a holdover from when iPods and iPhones were updated through the iTunes app, rather than through the Finder or WiFi/wireless.
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This request has been a part of macOS for a very long time. I think I first started seeing it on my PowerMac G4 running Mac OS X 10.5.
You’re right that the text is very ambiguous. But the software it installs is basically updated driver files for syncing with your particular model phone.
Originally, the iTunes app had built-in support for every model iPod, and Apple released iTunes updates to add support for new models. But as the number of products increased (and iPhones and iPads, etc.), this became impractical. So Apple switched to a device driver model, where the app doesn’t change, but it uses external code for the low-level device access. And Apple does not pre-install drivers for all models (just like for scanners and printers).
So when you connect a device for the first time, macOS identifies it and downloads that device’s driver after asking you - which is that dialog box. And when macOS or iOS updates in a way that requires an updated driver, it asks again the next time you connect the device.
It was first discussed here back in 2018. See What's with this strange, nonstandard update to iTunes? - #8 by seth
It’s changed a little with the switch from iTunes to the Finder for managing syncing to mobile devices.
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David,
Thank you for taking the time to explain.
