Level 1 (36 points)

Connecting iPhone SE updated to IOs 27.0.1 to iTunes 12.8.3.1

I am tryin to ascertain if an iPhone SE updated to iOs 27.0.1 will connect to Itunes version 12.8.3.1 in a Mac Pro running High Sierra.

When I connect I see a prompt that comes up with a prompt as per the attached image 1 followed after a few minutes by Image 2.

I know that there are sure to be issues regards such a connection but just wanted to check if the prompts that are appearing at a means to allowing the iOs to connect to the version of iTunes installed?

I have tried this several times and get the feeling that its not really a case of this update being 'currently unavailable' but that maybe its a compatibility issue?

The iPhone was previously backed up to this version of iTunes before the iOs update so the backup I want to restore the phone from is currently not able to be restored due to this lack of connectivity.

Any helpful insights would be most welcome.

Posted on Oct 25, 2026 4:42 PM

4 replies

Servant of Cats

Level 9 (55,707 points)

Oct 28, 2026 4:43 PM in response to Anthony ÓDoibhailein

For what it's worth,

Apple recently raised the minimum system requirement for iCloud to Mojave or later – shutting out High Sierra. (System requirements for iCloud - Apple Support)
A key security certificate is set to expire at the end of January 2027. I believe that Apple issued updates as far back as Catalina, but I haven't heard of any updates for High Sierra (or even for Mojave). The expiration of the certificate will supposedly affect Messages and FaceTime, but that might not be all that it affects.

You might want to keep trying to use iTunes periodically, in case the update that you need comes back online and hitting "Install" on that first dialog eventually works. But I have to wonder if High Sierra is getting "cut off" and the Support documentation simply hasn't caught up yet …

Servant of Cats

Level 9 (55,707 points)

Oct 28, 2026 4:36 PM in response to Anthony ÓDoibhailein

High Sierra and iTunes 12.8.3.1 are theoretically enough to manage even an iPhone 18 Pro running iOS 27. (See the Technical Specifications for that phone.)

However, in the last few years, ever since the release of iOS 17 (or was it 18?), I have seen threads from people who ran into problems trying to manage iPhones with the current version of iOS, using High Sierra. I get the impression that the problems might not happen to everyone.

Some people claim to have patched around the issue by downloading a suitable version of Xcode, extracting some component from it, and using that component to update iTunes. But that shouldn't be necessary, seems a little bit dicey, and might not even work now (if you're trying to get whatever component is needed for iOS 27).

It's a good sign that iTunes offered to download and install an update ... not so great that the installation failed. I do not know if "not currently available" is a temporary thing or a permanent one.

Anthony ÓDoibhailein Author

Level 1 (36 points)

Nov 2, 2026 1:44 PM in response to Servant of Cats

Thanks for your input. Still no sign of the update being available.

I imagine that true to Apples form it has a tendency to abandon users who cannot for whatever reason update. It demonstrates a failing of technology not to be so engineered as to support all users who have invested in their systems. Guess its just not financially viable for them to offer such software support.

I shall monitor things for a short period but I am not too optimistic regards the route to resolution of this issue.

Anthony ÓDoibhailein Author

Level 1 (36 points)

Nov 10, 2026 4:36 PM in response to Anthony ÓDoibhailein

An update on this. Without any change to anything I connected the iPhone to the mac and it showed in itune!!

Success! Update completed. Much space saved though system an Os files still take up way too much space. Almost a third of the storage.

Thanks for your support.

Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256382910