As per android docs
Run repo init to bring down the latest version of Repo with all its most recent bug fixes. You must specify a URL for the manifest, which specifies where the various repositories included in the Android source will be placed within your working directory. $ repo init -u https://android.googlesource.com/platform/manifest
What does it mean by bring down the latest version of repo? and if it brings down latest versions of the code how it is different from repo sync