I even tried closing itunes and just plugging my phone in to charge, and it again acted as though I was continuously plugging it in and unplugging it, but stayed connected in Windows.

This leads me to believe it is some sort of software issue on the MacBook side of things. But today I opened Windows on my MacBook, and when I plugged in my iPad I told it to open in Windows, and voila it connected to iTunes in windows fine and stayed connected. I use Windows 10 in VMWare on my laptop for work (and yes I made sure it wasn't running before trying to sync to make sure that wasn't causing the connectivity issues). I've done a lot of searching, and haven't found any definitive answers or solutions, but today I thought I would try something.

I've tested with both USB ports on my MacBook, and with several known working cords, both Apple branded and not. All other USB devices work fine, and my iPad and iPhone both connect with the windows computers at work just fine. My iPhone has connected perfectly until today, when it started doing the same thing as the iPad. I've been having this issue for a while with my iPad Air 2: When I plug it into my MacBook, it will act as though I am plugging it in and unplugging it rapidly, and will not stay connected long enough for me to sync or backup with iTunes.

Itunes for macbook air 2020 download