"Apple wants to make changes". Any idea what this is?

Try Malwarebytes.

There is no reason to leave it installed once troubleshooting is finished. The free version doesn't update itself. If you need it again, you can download it again.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac 10.10 and later

Malwarebytes uninstall

Like a novice idiot, I fell for this and entered my password after getting the "Apple wants to make changes" pop up. Then I checked the forums and found this thread. Needless to say I should have checked the forum first! Anyway, I have immediately changed my MAC access password. Then I ran Malwarebytes and deleted everything it detected. Then I cleared: Cache, history & website data. Here are a few links to help clean up your computer.

Free Antivirus Replacement & Anti-Malware Tool | Malwarebytes

https://nektony.com/blog/how-to-reset-safari-on-mac

https://macsecurity.net/view/188-remove-anysearchmanager-malware-from-mac

Hi Amimake. So when you typed the wrong password it knew? That is bizarre.. That would normally give me hope that it’s actually Apple, but if it keeps coming back even after you gave it the correct password that’s a big red flag. I mean what’s the point of the ask if it already knows your password? Like I said in my post earlier, I also typed in my real password but I also ran Malwarebytes. I have not seen the message since Malwarebytes isolated three files in quarantine. I’ve also changed my password to sign onto my Mac, and I’ve changed any passwords that even slightly resemble that password on other websites.

I've had this problem and I know exactly when it started. It was an Adobe update that popped up when I was trying to view a document. I quickly went through the update prompts to "agree." I hit "agree" to an application recommendation thinking it was another terms of usage doctrine: I was so very wrong. My mistake. Then "Any Search" was installed and I struggled to override it. I tried deleting it and finding everything connected to it. I was at a loss because nothing was showing up from my research to clear it out manually in all the files of my computer. I downloaded the MalWareBytes and it found all the files I failed to find. Those files were deeply hidden! Here's to hoping my Safari doesn't randomly shut down with all my research tabs to be lost and the three prompts in a row to "make changes" requiring my password. My internet usage is reputable and I don't download anything I'm not actively trying to use.

Weloveour8cats wrote:

I am getting the same pop-up and have no idea what we all should be doing ... I was hoping that Apple Support would help us .. so far not a word ... HELP APPLE

This is a user-to-user technical support forum. Apple support does not use this forum.

HOWEVER, at the top of this page is a "Contact Support" link if you want to talk to Apple Support.

Or you can read through this thread, and try some of the suggestions, ESPECIALLY the "Apple Recommended" suggestion of MalwareBytes (the free version).

Are you doing anything in particular when you get the message?

Screen shots

Safe Mode - About

Safe Mode Startup – El Capitan. also Sierra

I've had the same problem for the last few weeks. I will not sign in but I found that by hitting cancel

three times I can get rid of it.

You may have to try and post a screenshot of the dialog box in question.

On the face of it, fraud is suspected. You could try restarting in Safe mode

and see if you can work around the suspicious prompt.

Not sure what to suggest, local time here is 2:20AM ~ I'm past due on sleep.

Malwarebytes is a safe program written by thomas r, a long time contributor to the Apple Support Communities. It is often recommended to help with adware/malware problems.

I get these everyday. 3 times in a row.

I think it has something to do with Chrome and a rogue extension called SafeSearch or something like that.

It was giving me grief- changing the default search engine and even installing apps that I had to remove.

I'm still looking into it, but it's very annoying.

I tried this: disconnected from internet - entered wrong password - the pop up knew that password was wrong - I typed something similar to my password - still a no go - so finally I entered my correct password and the pop up knew that it was the correct password and went away. But it came back many times more. So whatever the malware is, it already knows your password.

IF you've of a mind to provide free cures such as etrecheck &/or malwarebytes for mac (thomas r.)

then feel free to do so. And if it works, provide free followup for several years here in ASC, too.

These two products were derived from individuals who have contributed here for near a decade.

There are manual methods to hunt down and try to remove these kinds of issues from macOS.

A few contributors, who have stopped contributing ~ used to go into great command-line detail

on how to do just that. Mostly how to identify the problem and troubleshoot: then remove items.

I downloaded the free program called "Malwarebytes." Here is a screenshot of what it found, if that helps find/remedy the problem.

If it is trying to install Malwarebytes, it is safe to put in your password.