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

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.

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

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.

Hi Eric! I am having the same problem with the prompt "Apple wants to make changes". In addition, it seems that my laptop screen goes black (as if going to sleep) after just a few minutes of being on it when I feel it shouldn't be going black. On Malwarebytes, this is what it shows. However, im not sure what the next step is. Can you please explain to me what to do from here?

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

I can tell you guys what I was doing when this appeared. I was surfing the internet on Safari. Specifically I was on CBSSports.com reviewing my fantasy football team. Then Safari just... "closed." Not crashed, because usually you get a pop-up that says "Safari closed unexpectedly" or something like that. But Safari closed, then about 1-2 sec. later, up popped the "Apple wants to make changes." dialogue box popped up. And it stays on top of all applications. When I opened "Force Quit," no application appears. It also does not appear in the lower Application Dock. I haven't pushed cancel OR Ok for fear that selecting either one is a trap.

Is it safe?! I have no idea how to answer that... but I dont think it would hurt to do some research and determine what you think is safe. The only reason I posted this is to help an Apple programer that might be reading this potentially get closer to solving the problem or protecting their OS.

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

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 have similar problem; the popup window "Apple wants to make changes" comes up even without using safari. Seems like every 2-3 days the window pops up, and it takes exactly 3 cancels to make it on away. I tried everything, but to no avail.

so when I try to to install the anti-malware download it asks "installer is trying to install new software" and it looks a bit sketch because it looks exactly like the "apple wants to make changes" message is it safe for me to put my password in for the anti-malware download?

Thanks a lot Eric Root. I followed your advice and that "Apple wants to makes changes." window is now no longer appearing. It's the first time in over 10 years using Macs that I had a little malware like this. Thanks again for the advice.

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.

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.