Apple ID

25 Jan 2020 16:57:03

Lionel Ogden

I have had a few problems of late with my Apple ID. For the last several years I have had the same ID and password which I had stored on my Mac. Two or three times recently my password has been rejected and I have changed it only for it to be rejected again a few months later.

When this happened again earlier today I thought that I would check if something was amiss by ringing Apple Support. Previously I have had very good help from Apple support but this time was not one of them. It took ages to get them to accept that I needed help with Apple ID passwords. Even when they took over the screen to show me what to do the arrow was wandering all over the screen and I needed them to repeat everything several times. When I then tried to log in to iCloud using my newly changed password, the advisor said that I was using the wrong password and that I should use the machine password instead.

I know I am getting long in the tooth but this was confusing.

The blurb about Apple ID says that it is used for iCloud as well as almost everything else Apple.

Re: Apple ID

25 Jan 2020 19:40:04

Trevor Hewson

You’re right Lionel, you log into iCloud with your Apple ID and so it’s the same password. When I had trouble migrating my data to a new iMac the first Apple support person was excellent. However when I called back later in the process as requested, the chap I got then was worse than useless. He insisted that it wasn’t possible to use Migration Assistant to migrate data from one machine to another unless they were on the same OS version - which of course is exactly what it’s designed to do!

So I think you were just unlucky with your Apple call this time. However, if their calls really are recorded for training purposes, these agents surely shouldn’t survive long dishing out totally incorrect information on fairly basic issues.

Re: Apple ID

25 Jan 2020 23:27:08

Tony Still

Apple's network services (everything iCloud etc accessed by AppleID) had a number of problems yesterday and today (at least) so don't learn anything from recent behaviour! In my experience, Apple Support is oblivious to service status.

At the risk of teaching Granny to suck eggs... you have two types passwords of note:
* A device password that lets you use your local computer. That's a Mac account password or a passcode for an iPad/iPhone/Watch. It gives access to the local "disk" and to your local key chain (that holds passwords for things like WiFi access).
* An AppleID password that, given you have succeeded in gaining access to your device, allows access to Apple's network services (everything that's not on your computer including iCloud and App Store).

You will, of course, have set these to different values which makes them easier to distinguish. macOS will ask specifically for one or the other.

If you have two-factor authentication turned on (recommended), accessing some network functions will demand authentication on another device by sending it a code number (which is only valid for a short time so you don't need to keep it).

I suggest you have another try at confirming/changing your AppleID password once all of Apple's services have a clean bill of health (see this page).

Re: Apple ID

26 Jan 2020 12:31:24

Mick Burrell

Apple used to pride themselves on their consistency but that seems to be falling by the wayside. Have you noticed how System Preferences is called Settings on iOS? 😉

You have a password for your Apple ID which has to be at least eight characters, contain at least one capital letter and at least one number. People rarely have a problem when asked for their Apple ID password (memory issues aside!) but when asked for their iTunes password or App Store password don't realise it refers to their Apple ID. Any contact with an Apple service will be your Apple ID password.

Similarly, you set up a password to log on to your Mac when you first get it. This can be referred to as the Admin or Administrator password, your login password and now the machine password. Setting up a new laptop with someone a couple of days ago, we were entering settings for the email account and had issues with the password even though we were able to confirm by logging in to webmail that we had the right email password. It was some time before I noticed that the setup (it was aGmail account) was asking for the machine password, not the email password.

Good practise suggests a different password for each login but I have some sympathy for people who use the same one everywhere!

Re: Apple ID

28 Jan 2020 20:06:55

Lionel Ogden

Thanks all. It mystified me too that the Apple rep said I must use the machine password to log in to iCloud on the web. I still find that my Apple ID, changed under the supervision of the Apple rep still will not work to log in to the iTunes Store. I shall keep trying.

Re: Apple ID

28 Jan 2020 20:26:44

Lionel Ogden

Having done a quick check, I can now sign in to the iTunes Store with my new Apple ID password, but I still need my machine password to sign in to iCloud on line.

Re: Apple ID

28 Jan 2020 23:29:43

Tony Still

I'm surprised that your machine password works with iCloud.com.

I presume there's no chance that you have two AppleIDs? You could check the IDs (an E-Mail address) used with each by inspecting the AppleID on iCloud.com (web browser) and your Mac (System Preferences). If they're not the same then that would explain why two different passwords work.

Re: Apple ID

29 Jan 2020 09:19:29

Douglas Cheney

I have had the same problem when signing into iCloud having to use the iMac password but the next time I signed in it was my Apple ID that was wanted.

Re: Apple ID

30 Jan 2020 08:15:42

Trevor Hewson

A long shot - Is the request for the machine password just System Preferences seeking authorisation to make changes?

Re: Apple ID

3 Feb 2020 20:19:30

Lionel Ogden

The password was required on the iCloud site. However it would all seem to have settled down now, but then I thought that a couple of months ago.