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

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?

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

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

"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.]

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

My comment was not about the utility nor the ubiquity of the two factor authentication circus we must endure - It was, and is, about the fact that the method of entering the password / verification code combination is obscure and off-putting due to poor user interface design. The GUI does not guide users smoothly through the process.

If the interface and the series of steps needed to achieve the required authentication were better conceived by Apple engineers this entire thread would not exist.
As it stands the authentication and the security it promises become secondary to users' experiences of the POOR DESIGN that Apple has failed to fix. The age of these posts is testament to their failure to evolve what is obviously not working for many of their loyal, paying customers.

I understand two-factor authentication. I think it a fairly robust way to manage multiple devices. However, in this instance Apple fails to make clear the steps of execution users must undertake to enter the verification code. My comment does not lack merit. It speaks to the failure of Apple to address the design of their interface in this one, specific area.
Some fan bois & girls just cannot bear to read that Apple has something amiss. I get that they need to have everything Apple be praised, but far from being specious, my comment is on the mark.

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

so GB - why include quoted text about two factor authentication in your post if that is not what your post was about? Specious much?

Again - Apple is in charge of the interface. No matter the vintage of OS or the devices upon which those OS run - it is up to Apple's engineers to provide the interface. They have failed to make it easy or simple or even logical to do what their OS requires. It's the interface design that fails users in this instance.

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

My cell phone worked when reinstalling El Capitan because I was given the

option of how I wanted to receive the code.

However, when I was reinstalling Lion, no such option was provided.

How do I proceed?

Why do I now have a two-step verification? Can I get rid of it?

On Feb 11, 2018 6:49 PM, "Apple Support Communities Updates" <

Yes. I used my android and that worked fine when I updated my MacBook Pro from El Capitan to High Sierra because it gave me an option to click on "Did not receive a Code," which then opened another box that allowed me to select "Send a Text SMS to ......"

However, I am now trying to downgrade my son's MacBook Pro from El Capitan to the original OS (Lion) because his DJ equipment works with Lion, Snow Leopard, and Leopard but the drivers are not recognized by El Capitan.

When downgrading to Lion, the two-step verification does not offer the option of clicking on "Didn't receive a Code," which then opens up another box that gives you the option of receiving a text message to your trusted device. It just says "a verification code has been sent." No other choices or information are given. Where was the verification code sent since it did not show up on my android cell?

I have no other Apple products.

Lynda

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

Hello, I think I was having a similar problem. I contacted Apple Support, and learned...

Short answer: In order to use the 2-factor verification process, your device has to be running the most up-to-date operating system. So if your Macbook is running any OS other than High Sierra/10.13, you have to turn off the 2-step verification process.

Longer answer: To turn off the 2-factor verification process, you need at least 1 good device that is successfully linked to your iCloud account (iPhone, iPad, etc). You also need the naughty Macbook you're trying to connect to your iCloud account, and it must have a working web browser and internet.

- On your Macbook, open your web browser and go to "Manage Your Apple ID" at
https://appleid.apple.com/#!&page=signin
Sign in using your Apple ID and password.
The webpage should then show empty squares for you to input a verification number.

- Your good iCloud-connected device should notify you, saying a different naughty device is trying to login
with your Apple ID.
Choose "Allow" on your good device.
It should then provide a verification number.

- Enter the verification number into the webpage on your naughty Macbook.
You should then be able to view your Account details online.

Scroll down to the "Security" section, and click on the "Edit" button.

Select the option to turn off the 2-factor verification process.
Once you do this, it will prompt you to choose 3 security questions instead.

- Once you've switched to the security question mode, go back to System Preferences on your Macbook.

Select the iCloud, and enter your Apple ID password.
Your Macbook should now be a good device that is successfully linked to your iCloud account.
Upgrade or downgrade your OS as you desire.

I was running OS 10.9.5, so I upgraded to 10.13, and chose to turn the 2-factor verification back on.

If you choose to have your Macbook run an older OS, you must leave the 2-factor verification off.

Good luck!

-Amber

I appreciate this is an old thread but it obviously still a major issue that is awful! Every body who is answering this is ignorant to the fact you don't get the activation code until you've put your password in, so you saying you put it in after your password is just plain stupid. There is nowhere to put your password after you've requested a code to input it just greys out the whole iCloud login area.

So with that in mind can anyone actually answer this question?

Nobody said just to put it in after you get the verification code. As has been pointed out several times, once you get the Verification Code, you tap on the back arror in the top left-hand corner of the iCloud box you are in, and it will residplay the sign-in screen. That is where you would then type in your Apple ID followed by the password and the verification code.

If you are facing a different issue, then please explain exactly what your situation is, and refrain from calling people ignorant and their answers stupid. Incivility is not going to further your cause.

GB

And - do yo think it got a "Solved" indicated because at least one of the suggestions didn't work? Obviously it has worked.