IPhone – Stop iTunes from launching when iPhone is connected

Your iPhone is bound to a specific machine. It won't automatically sync to a machine. You have to manually force it to sync. When you do this, it will ask if you wish to erase all data on your iPhone and sync with the new machine.

Beware, if you do this, it will wipe your contacts, music, apps, videos, etc, and replace them with what is on your current machine. The only way to avoid doing this is to copy your entire iTunes library folder from your old machine to your new one, and replace the existing library.

To summarise, the iPhone thinks your new laptop is a new machine, and so won't automatically sync to it until it's re-associated. Any questions, just shout.

Go to System Preferences → Accounts, and view your Login Items. One of them should be iTunesHelper.

If iTunesHelper is missing from Login Items, here's how to add it:

iTunesHelper is located inside the iTunes.app bundle, at

/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Resources/iTunesHelper.app/

1. Navigate into the iTunes.app package; in Finder, Right-click iTunes.app and select Show Packaged Content to get inside it. ^{(Or use Terminal to navigate and then open Finder with open .)}
2. Locate iTunesHelper.app, and drag it to the Login Items pane.
3. Logout or even restart may be required for changes to take effect.

Whew, that was weird. I'm glad I got it added back too. :-)

(Alternatively you could reinstall iTunes, but the above is much quicker and easier.)

These forum threads were helpful:

• How to prevent iTunes from opening when iPhone connected
• iTunesHelper is gone in login items...