Apple ID keeps getting locked

Very interesting. It seems we all have not having 2FA in common. So who will be the guinea pig lol? If 2FA fixed it I wold actually do it. Entering my password on 6 devices every 5 days is becoming a bit much.

It hasn't happened to me in a while, so maybe the issue was fixed in an OS update. Regarding 2FA, speaking only for myself I find it overkill as a home user; I just don't want to have to jump through hoops to use my own laptop or phone.

Me too. I find it asinine that they can't use source IP as a 'half factor' considering they are very stable on most major carriers...even tracking the set of recent IPs->correct logons should let you shortcut any need for 2FA. I don't need the hassle of having to auth my Apple TVs every two days with my phone, frankly.

This has also been happening to me. I have two desktop Macs (one Big Sur, one Catalina), one iPhone, one iPad and an Apple TV all linked on the same Apple ID. I do not use 2FA because I am often nowhere near cell phone service. This issue just happened again this morning and like many others here I am beginning to suspect a flaw in Apple's ID management. Or, in the worst case, a push by Apple to force 2FA. In either case, this needs fixing - when the Apple ID has to be reset, ALL of those devices have to be updated, which as we all know is a laborious process. Completely unacceptable Apple.

Me too. The problem seemed to disappear some weeks ago, but just the other day it cropped up again. Other wierd behavior: yesterday I was on a Facetime call with my kids. Today when I turn on my phone, I get a message on the screen saying that I must verify my "Facetime login"... W*T*F*? So of course I had to go through the maddening process of logging in again. Huge FAIL, Apple!

Excellent suggestion - bot hacking attempts is a very rational and likely explanation for the frequent yet irregular 'lockouts' from, Apple. Gonna give this a try right away. Many thanks for posting the link to it.

I fell for the 2FA just because I thought it would fix this persistently annoying kicking off and locking problem, but guess what? The same crap happens on a daily basis. I’ve been with Apple since 1993 and I am so fed up with this bug. My problem also started around Dec 20/Jan 21 with and upgrade. Problem exists on both of my mobile devices, desktop, and laptop. I call BS on Apple’s reply to this problem by blaming it on hacking, and I STRONGLY agree with getting rid of the email ID! WTH Apple?!

I've been having this same issue since Dec '20 and I don't even own an iOS device, only a MacBook Pro. So it's not an iOS issue, it seems that it is a server side issue from Apple and more specifically AppleID services. They are trying to push 2FA hard, but I won't do it because I work in cell phone repair and I constantly see people getting locked out of their account because they don't have access to an old device they forgot to sign out of. And the other half of the time, it's a device in another state or with another family member. 2FA is a nightmare for a lot of people. I'm just thankful I don't have to deal with this bug on my phone, only on my laptop. Either way, it needs to be fixed.

Good to know that using 2FA does not fix the problem. I have had this same problem for the past few months also. I have to reset my password and unlock my account every few weeks. I have an iPhone 5s like serveral others have reported so suspect it is just Apples way to encourage us to upgrade. Very annoying!

You’re wrong, young Jedi. I have an iPhone 12 and have been suffering the same issue as you since about November 2020 (when I was still on my old iPhone 6s). So forced upgrading has nothing to do with it. Rather, it appears to be incompetent software engineering from a company with a market cap of a TRILLION $. We’re all sheep. ☹️

Hello Jeff. Interesting take on the problem. I'm hesitant to test a possible solution to your second point simply because I've been using my Apple ID since about 2005 and don't want to change it. Changing it requires me to once again remember a new id/pw combo, and at my age (60) it's getting harder and harder to remember all this crap. I know the "+" option is NOT an option for me as my ISP here in Spain doesn't allow for it.

I do Hushmail )as well as my normal email account via my ISP) which allows for unlimited aliases so I suppose I could generate a new email address to apply as my ID that way, but I worry if I don't like it and won't be able to go back to my original Apple ID that I've been using all these years. I know that when you change a p/w with Apple, they never let you go back to using one you used before. I assume the same goes if you change your ID then something in the future want to change it back to the ols one.

Very frustrating all this!

I’ve been suffering from this problem since the first of the year, maybe even since December. My record so far is having my Apple ID locked eight times in a single day, necessitating signing in again on multiple devices each time. It varies. And sometimes things get quiet for a week or so, only to start up again.

Under Apple’s security protocols for iCloud the only “fix” is to change one’s Apple ID. But I’ve had this email address since the paid ME.COM days, and I’m loathe to change that.

This built-in denial of service “service” really is unacceptable, and has been exploited for years now. But Apple hasn’t, to my knowledge, even acknowledged the problem, much less set out to correct it. I can only assume it hasn’t reached critical mass for Apple.

I much prefer Gmail’s method of emailing the user, noting the problem, and outlines responses possible. (Mind you, that’s the only thing I like about Gmail.)

I'm not worried about anyone ever guessing my passphrase.

Has anyone heard anything at all from Apple regarding this?

Hello everyone,

I've been suffering this issue since last October, but the differentiating element is that I work as a Sys Admin at a school and the Apple IDs that get locked are Managed Apple IDs that some of the students use with Shared iPads.

So, in an environment of more than 70 shared devices and more than 350 Apple IDs using that devices, you can imagine how frustrating is to get locked from 5 to 10 Apple IDs every week.

However, I'm "glad" to see that maybe it's not an iPads or network bad configuration.

Of course, Apple is not being very helpful, and in all this time, all they can say is that "user is introducing invalid credentials too many times". But the truth is that I have seen Apple IDs getting locked when the users were in front of me with no iPad in their hands.

Needless to say, the problem, 6 months later, is still happening.

I think this is a very good idea/ guess as to what is happening, However, it would have been nice to have Apple say “ by not doing 2 step authentication, you may be LOCKED OUT Repeatedly “

its so frustrating that I think it would prompt me to do the 2 step authentication process.

everytime I get a new phone OR a phone is replaced Etc.... I get locked out of ALL MY accounts and have to make new passwords to pay bills!

i don’t have a OFFIC or space for one and PASSWORDS ARE IMPOSSIBLE to keep remembering! There must be a better way to deal with this problem out there?!