If I purchase additional storage, will I be able to log in (finally) to an iPhone giving me the "maximum number of free accounts" message?

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If I purchase additional storage, will I be able to log in (finally) to an iPhone giving me the "maximum number of free accounts" message?

The title says pretty much all. I have an iPhone which has reached the maximum number of free accounts due to an error on my part. It's currently logged in with my main AppleID/iCloud account, but any attempt to log out and log back in with the secondary account presents either the dreaded "Maximum number of free accounts" message, or simply "Could not log in".

All of the suggestions thus far to "just create another account on a different device or at icloud.com or on your computer" have proven to be useless. Any attempt to log in with anything other than the last three accounts associated with this device results in the one of these two error messages.

Yes, I have reset the phone. Yes, I have restored the phone. Multiple times. Yes, I can sign in separately to iCloud and the iTunes & App store using the second AppleID. But, the phone itself refuses to accept it.

Any suggestions or links to knowledge base articles that might answer the question posed in the title would be appreciated.

iPhone 6, iOS 11.1

Posted on Nov 18, 2017 8:09 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 18, 2017 8:18 AM in response to SeniorWiener

Buying extra storage won't have any effect. Any one device can create only three iCloud accounts (each, of course, from a separate Apple ID'. If you try to create a new iCloud account thereafter you get the message you are seeing, so that's what the phone thinks you are doing.

In order to get round this, as you say, you have to create a new iCloud account - not just an Apple ID - elsewhere. To do this you use another Mac or iOS device (not Windows or Android) and sign in with the new ID in System preferences (or Settings)>iCloud. If you try to sign in with an Apple ID which is a new one but hasn't yet been used to create an iCloud account you will get the error.

So if you have created a fourth Apple ID, and have actually used it on another device to create an iCloud account, you should be able to log into it on the first device. If you can't, then something is going wrong and you should contact Support for advice. Go to https://getsupport.apple.com . Click' See all products and services', then 'More', then 'iCloud', then 'Account and Setup', then 'Troubleshooting iCloud account issues'. Then click 'No thanks. Continue' to be offered contact methods.

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