How do you input the Apple ID verification code on a macbook? (Mine is OS X Lion 10.7.5)

so sorry to read this AGAIN

I walked away from the cursed thing for a week and still struggled.
Here's what worked for me:

Look at the GUI for the left pointing arrow at the top of the pop-up

click that gray arrow to (hopefully) return to the area where it will accept your password

Type your appleID password and then the code that appeared on your other devices - do not space between the digits
cross your fingers - incant for the resurrection of Steve Jobs - who would not have tolerated this bunk

***wait to see if it worked this time***

begin working as you'd hoped

maphead wrote:

This is a fecal-filled (term chosen to avoid the sensitive eyes of the forum censors) procedure that is beneath the Apple core tenet of simplified interaction with computing devices.

Why - after YEARS of inquiries and posts about this basic issue does Apple not change the method? [rhetoric: yes, I know this a users' forum.]

Well, Apple is not able to change the method when you are talking about a Mac running OSX Lion. The requirement is a part of Two-Factor Authentication, and that is a new process that was not introduced until after El Capitan came out. So, Mac's running older, no longer supported software do not get the Verification box that a Mac running a higher, supported OS would get.

Even Apple's Two-Factor Authentication support article is clear that the minimum recommended system requirement for using Two-Factor is OS X El Capitan or later (although it is not a requirement as long as you have an iOS device running iOS 9 or later):

Who can turn on two-factor authentication?

Two-factor authentication is available to iCloud users with at least one device that's using iOS 9 or OS X El Capitan or later. Here are the minimum recommended system requirements for all devices that you use with your Apple ID:

• iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that uses a passcode, with iOS 9 and later
• Mac with OS X El Capitan and iTunes 12.3 and later

So, your argument is specious at best. You have to use a workaround if your Mac is not running at least El Capitan. Which means, that, at most, people not running El Capitan or higher, but who have set up Two-Factor Authentication nevertheless, have been having issues for a couple of years, at most. (El Cap was introduced on 9/30/2015).

GB

Update your OS. Apple, like any other software vendor, only supports software up to a certain point in time. Lion is not a supported OS. If you want to take advantage of the latest technology, you have to keep your software current.

GB

You need to type in both your password and your verification code. Password first followed by the verification code - no spaces between them.

GB

maphead wrote:

yes - exactly NO place to type the **** thing is shown anywhere. What a pain.... I rarely use this machine but have the HONOR of Apple screwing me over EVERY time I try to use it.

Is there a solution that WORKS?

I'm sorry, but what do you mean there is no place to type the code? Do you mean you don't see a password box anymore? Did you try pressing the back arrow to go back to the Sign in screen so you could then type your password+verification code into the box?

GB

And my response was not about Two-Factor Authentication, it was about the operating system that you are running on your Mac. If you do not have at least El Capitan, then you are going to have to use the workaround. New technology requires at least relatively current software. If you are not running that software, for whatever set of reasons, but you are using Two-Factor Authentication, then the process to join those two disparate pieces of logic may not be as user-friendly as you would wish.

GB

Do you mean you are putting in your Apple ID password immediately followed by the verification code? Are you putting the password in correctly = upper and lower case, special characters, etc.? Have you checked to see if you can sign into iCloud or iTunes with that Apple ID and password?

Cheers,

GB

Here is a snippet from the support article linked below:

From your Mac:

1. Go to Apple Menu > System Preferences > iCloud.
2. Click Account Details.
3. If your device is offline, click Get Verification Code. If your device is online, click Password & Security > Get Verification Code.

Here is the support article: Get a verification code and sign in with two-factor authentication - Apple Support

Cheers,

GB

Are you using Two-Step or Two-Factor? There is a difference in how they work.

Also, you are trying to downgrade the Mac, so what process are you doing at this point that is asking for the Verification Code for your Apple ID?

Cheers,

GB

Did you try pressing the Back Arrow key to go back to the sign-in screen?

Cheers,

GB

okaaay - I get that I syould type the Apple ID Verification Code directly after my password HOWEVER - NO pop up or field is shown to type anything in at all......
I've read this thread a couple times and I do not see where any answer addresses the lack of field to type the password and code. 😟

There have been several solutions posted on this thread. That's why it is marked "Solved" and the selected "Solved" solution appears at the top of every page. If your issue is that you can't see a box to type in your password plus the verification code, then try doing what the post directly above yours tells you to do.

Apple, of course, does not reply here. This is a user to user technical support forum, and one of the solutions given here should work for you.

But you have to read the responses.

GB

yes - exactly NO place to type the **** thing is shown anywhere. What a pain.... I rarely use this machine but have the HONOR of Apple screwing me over EVERY time I try to use it.

Is there a solution that WORKS?

really Apple dam with an n is starred out ?- what are you? - too afraid to hear the words that really describe this bovine excrement? It is damnable that this is an issue at all.... what is the point of locking me out of a computer that I own - I think I bought it. I for sure gave Timmy Cook my money.

Why the heck is this such a copulated up situation?

"Pressing the back arrow" - - there's the problem.

Poster GB apparently means "click" the arrow in the GUI - to try to return to the password prompt pop-up.

"Pressing the back arrow" implies using the keyboard to somehow invoke the appropriate pop-up where one could hope to enter one's password followed by the code sent to other devices.

This is a fecal-filled (term chosen to avoid the sensitive eyes of the forum censors) procedure that is beneath the Apple core tenet of simplified interaction with computing devices.

Why - after YEARS of inquiries and posts about this basic issue does Apple not change the method? [rhetoric: yes, I know this a users' forum.]