Auth 2.0 Error 400 on Mail account

tnbriggs wrote:

But Apple do insist you buy overpriced new equipment from them at an alarmingly increasing frequency to have that security and privacy, thus ensuring their bottom line. And considering Apple's market cap is about twice what Alphabet's is, that seems to be working for them quite well, but less so for we poor consumers who can no longer afford to fund their greed.

That (bold text) is a non-sequitur. All of my Macs are expected to remain in productive service for a period of about seven years. The one in my office is nine years old, the one I am using at the moment is twelve years old, and I have others that are fifteen years old. They all work perfectly fine.

However, none of them have ever any Google products installed.

So your assertion that Apple insists upon purchasing "overpriced new equipment from them at an alarmingly increasing frequency" is demonstrably false.

Apple derives substantially all its revenue from selling hardware. Google derives substantially all its revenue from selling advertisements. Apple's single-minded approach to user privacy and protecting its customers' personal information is a constant irritation to Google. Why should Apple make it easier for them?

• If it is your desire to use Google products, then be prepared to replace your Macs every two to three years to keep up with its demands, which by the way have nothing to do with security and everything to do with their desire to harvest your personal information from your Macs, and sell it. You are the product Google sells. Presumably, your are being compensated for agreeing to that relationship. That's none of my business though. That's a private matter between you and Google.

• If you are required to use Google products, then buy a Chromebook. In fact Google should buy them for you, considering how much revenue they get from your voluntary use of their "free" services.

I FOUND THE SOLUTION.

People have mentioned it here, but with incomplete steps. So here is how to get it done:

1.) KNOW why this is happening in the first place: it's coz Google says your old mac and old mac OS have insufficient security. With that said, you can only update an old mac for about 7-10 years. Then you're SOL. Keep that in mind. Lucky for us old mac users (I'm running a 2011 MBPro with ElCapitan) -- we are still able to add new GMAIL accounts with a workaround.

2.) As mentioned here, open your GMAIL account preferences by signing into GMAIL by web browser and clicking on your avatar in the upper-right and selecting "Manage your Google Account". Then click on the "Security" tab on the left.

3.) Under "Signing in to Google" ENABLE 2-step verification. This alone will NOT fix it, but it WILL allow you use what Google calls "Less Secure Apps Access". If you notice in your account settings, Google automatically sets this to OFF -- essentially blocking access to any apps that Google dubs 'insufficient security'. Enabling 2-step verification will bring up a third line under "Signing in to Google" that says "App Passwords".

4.) Click on "App Passwords" and this will walk you through generating a password that you can use to manually add a GMAIL account with your old mac.

5.) Select and copy the generated password, go into Apple Mail preferences and select "other" when adding the new email account. Type in your gmail email address, and use the password you copied earlier, in the password field.

If this helps, PLEASE hit the kudos button to bring it to the top!

in my case with High Sierra OS it doesn't work.

In the account list I have the old GMAIL configuration that doesn't work anymore. I cannot remove this old account otherwise it would be removed from all devices including newer ones. Therefore, the system won't let me create a new email account with the same email used in the old Gmail account.

I tried to disable the old Gmail account leaving it in the list but the problem remains.

Same issue here. I just spent two hours with the Apple Support. Very friendly and polite as usual, but also fairly clueless. High Sierra is the most recent OS my MacBook can take, I am not going to buy a new one just to get my Google account synced.

A quick fix would be more than welcome, otherwise I will probably say goodbye to Apple & Google and hello again to Windows and Outlook...

I’d be interested to know how removing an email account on your Mac will remove it from your other devices. I’ve never experienced this.

Another interesting thing: the previous gmail accounts I have on my 2011 MacBook Pro still have access — but according to Google they shouldn’t. Per your description, it may be only a matter of time before my previously-added accounts lose access and I’ll need to re-add them.

I can’t comment too much about High Sierra because I’ve moved past it on our 2014 MacMini.

My MacBook Pro issue will soon be a non-issue as I’ve just ordered another MacMini to replace as a temporary replacement for my MacBook Pro.

Incidentally, the straw that broke this camel’s back was this e-mail fiasco. Despite being able to add the account using the methods described in this discussion — it was INCREDIBLY SLOW at syncing — and just pulling up the account via web browser was faster.

Thanks for pointing me to your post. The steps seem to work but only half-way: the Mac only allows me to use the Google account for the Mail or Notes apps. That's when I add the account via System Preferences -> Internet Accounts. If I try to add it directly from the Calendar or Contacts app the linking fails. I would actually want to sync my Google calendar and contacts (I don't need the mails). Any idea how I can do that?

Thanks for the help. I have no "original" Gmail account to delete, my High Sierra installation is fresh as a daisy (I changed the hard disk a few days ago). Before that I was on Sierra and everything was fine... name it progress. Note sure why Google would allow the trick to work for Mail and not Calendar / Contacts, especially since their security settings page asks which kind of app you want a password for (mail, calendar, contacts, etc.). I will ask them if there is a way to get it work, otherwise I guess it is not the end of the world to consult my calendar or contacts via the internet browser.

I've used this technique in the past with success on:

1. 2006 Mac Pro 1,1 running El Capitan (hacked boot.efi)
2. 2011 Macbook Pro 8,2 running High Sierra.
3. 2009 Macbook Pro 5,1 running Catalina (patched).

And am about to try it again on a 2009 Macbook 6,1 running High Sierra. I'll keep you posted.

When is Apple going to fix this? This is ridiculous. I hadn't changed my gmail password for years, but out of an abundance of caution - and all kinds of warnings about leaked passwords - I changed it. Now I can't use Apple mail on my mac? This should not be hard to fix, guys! Apple meet Google, shake hands, and fix this!

OS app support is only available up to a certain number of versions back.

I’ll be darned if this is the only issue folks are having. I had to deal with unsigned browser security certificates a while back. That was fun…

Fully agree with Erika. What's the point of making super-quality hardware if the software becomes obsolete after a few years? It's not my fault if my 2011 MacBook Pro still works like a charm, including its battery - sorry that I forgot to throw it down the stairs... I will not get rid of it because I cannot sync my whatever account or use whatever app. If software have to be obsolete after such a short time I will only buy computers that cost a few hundred euros from now on. And perhaps Apple should consider leasing its hardware - computer as a service.

Note that things are even worse in the iPhone world. A friend passed me an iPhone 5 that still functions perfectly and has enough computing capacity to fly an aircraft. WhatsApp tells me it cannot be installed on it because the OS is too old (and the OS cannot be updated of course). Same for mail clients and most of the apps, you basically cannot install anything on it. Like the messaging protocols have become so sophisticated that an iPhone 5 cannot cope with them... give me a break. For sure I will never buy an iPhone. Seriously wondering if I will ever buy a Mac again.

For the particular issue in this thread, Google could also consider offering mail/calendar/contact apps that work on older OS versions. I am open to any solution.

Mail & Notes were the only options with this method for me.

EDIT

user: vascomark seems to have used the same method I described without deleting the broken and the newly created account came back to function he reported. So It might be worth a try using the new account method we described WITHOUT deleting the old (if possible) I got an (account exists message just now when I tried, but it's still worth checking if you need your calendar i suppose.

Ive got the same problem. Weirdly its on my hubby's newer 2014 mac air, but so far [touching wood] not on my old 2011 macbook pro. He literally just lost connectivity for no apparent reason with the authentication error outlined in opening post.

Ive just tried using The Animasters work round, but to no avail, it still won't validate. To be sure I'd got it all correct, I repeated the process twice, reverting to original settings inbetween, but no joy. I was so hopeful this might do the job.

Frankly, its time Apple started recognizing that the longevity of their products means many people will have legacy issues and do more to help solve them. Instead its all about the money - "oh, something doesn't work any more, no problem, spend a small fortune and buy a new one!" It is deeply frustrating, not all Apple users are made of money.

Anyway, between Google and Apple, they seem determined to dictate what we must do, rather than what end users might want. Next new computers may not be Macs, and new email addresses on a different platform/server too.

Fed up in London.

Hi All

this process works 100% just did it today on imac running 10.13.6 high seirra.mail is now working properly thanks so much gmail app while it works is not great and clunky at best on a mac. Good to have mailback!

I've been at this several hours now, and have tried the various methods in this string of messages. Per the above I deleted my Gmail account in Apple Mail, and now when I try to add that account back in to Apple Mail (I've tried both the Other Mail and Google options) it tells me the account already exists even though I can't see it.

Is there a way to force my Gmail account back in to Apple Mail?

I'm running High Sierra 10.13.6. TIA