2008 13" Macbook won't connect to iphone

[ben824]

So my Dad gave us his old Black 13" Macbook for my wife to have a computer to use at home. I wiped it and reloaded Mountain Lion and updated it to 10.7.5. I have iTunes 12.2.2 loaded up and ready to go. When I plug in her iPhone 6S and my iPhone 6 it tells me that the iPhone has given an "invalid response."

She has an old iPod classic that connects just fine no issues.

Now the iPod is using an Apple connector. The iPhones are using a store bought cord.

Could the aftermarket cord be the issue? I remember older Apple products having issues like this back in the day.

 

[ben824]

UPDATE: My wife got the new iPhone 7 Plus so we tried the Apple cord that came with the phone and still no luck connecting her 7 Plus or my 6. Can someone offer up any advice?

 

[chscag]

I'm thinking your Black MacBook running Lion 10.7.5 and iTunes is too old to recognize the 6 or iPhone 7 + with iOS 10.2. You probably need to update iTunes but can't since the max version of OS X that the MacBook can run is Lion. You may be able to connect with an app like iMazing which does not depend on iTunes. However, I don't know if iMazing will run on Lion.

 

[DeltaMac]

Pretty sure you are stuck, especially with the iP7.

You could try upgrading to Mountain Lion (10.8), or Mavericks (10.9). Both require a hacked installer, however, as the black MacBook is too old to install those systems natively.

 

[ben824]

So despite running the latest iTunes, this old MacBook won't communicate with an iPhone 7?

 

[DeltaMac]

Yes. It's not enough that you have the latest iTunes that will run on your old MacBook.
The iTunes has to be version 12.5 or newer.
I checked to make sure - you have to be running at least OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) before you can update to iTunes 12.5 or higher.
iTunes 12.5 or higher, your iPhone 7 is good.
No iTunes 12.5 (or higher), then you can't connect to the iPhone 7

So, you need at least Mavericks and iTunes 12.5

 

[ben824]

Well thats quite unfortunate. I guess we will still get her using this one and have it backed up to the TimeCapsule and then try and get her a newer MacBook Pro or I will get a Retina and she can have my Late '11 13" MBP. Mine is running 16 GB of Ram and a 1 TB Hybrid drive so its still going strong and quite spry for its age!

 

[BrettApple]

Another alternative is to install Windows on it. Sounds crazy but it does work and you get much better software compatibility. Of course you can just dual boot with OS X as the main OS with Windows on the side via boot camp or VM.

But yes, Lion is only good up to iOS 9 and only for the 6/6s and below with the SE needing 10.8 (ML) and up even or anything updated to iOS 10.

I will say that Windows 10 actually runs a little smoother than Lion does on my Early 2008 MacBook (4GB RAM + SSD). Finding drivers can be a but of a pain though but is doable.

That being said the only big reasons left to use iTunes with a modern iPhone is syncing locally stored music, full device backups, and restoring devices. Most other things can be done via cloud these days.

 

[chezhoy]

I have the late '08 Aluminum (last of the external batteries). I am updated as far as I can go. I am going to go back to Mountain Lion at some point because it ran much quicker than the new OS.

So my Dad gave us his old Black 13" Macbook for my wife to have a computer to use at home. I wiped it and reloaded Mountain Lion and updated it to 10.7.5. I have iTunes 12.2.2 loaded up and ready to go. When I plug in her iPhone 6S and my iPhone 6 it tells me that the iPhone has given an "invalid response."

She has an old iPod classic that connects just fine no issues.

Now the iPod is using an Apple connector. The iPhones are using a store bought cord.

Could the aftermarket cord be the issue? I remember older Apple products having issues like this back in the day.