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Many Mac users unable to log in to iMessage & FaceTime after updating to OS X 10.11.4

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Apple earlier this week released the public stable version of OS X 10.11.4, but for a number of users the update process has been less than pleasant. A plethora of users are voicing issues on Apple’s support forums centered around logging in to iMessage and FaceTime following the update to OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan.

According to users on Apple’s forums, many are being presented with a “Could not sign into iMessage” error while trying to sign in, as well as a messaged reading, “An error occurred during authentication. Other users report that the log in process seems to act like its working, but it never fully completes and no error message is presented. The issue seems to mainly affect those who performed a clean install.

Users have tried a variety o fixes, including performing a clean install, disabling Firewall, and turning on two-step authentication, but there is no fix at the moment that seems to work. One user said they reached out to Apple Support regarding the problem and were informed that Apple is aware of it and working on a fix, while others report that Apple Support was unaware of the issue but would escalate it.

I just spoke to senior support here in Canada. Not sure what’s going on but he had no clue of this issue. I don’t know how, when lower level tech support yesterday told me they were aware.

What complicates this issue more is that users report even when downgrading to OS X 10.11.3, the log in issue persists. This implies that perhaps it’s not directly related to OS X 10.11.4 but rather is somehow related to Apple’s servers. This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, though, as not all users are affected and logging in to iCloud on other devices is unaffected.

Apple has yet to formally acknowledge the issue, but when they do we’ll be sure to update with the information and a fix whenever it is issued or discovered. Are you having this issue? Let us know in the comments if you do and also if you’re aware of a fix that reliably works.

Update: Apple’s System Status page now acknowledges the issue:

Screen Shot 2016-03-23 at 11.15.32 PM

Apple Support threads: 1, 2, 3, 4

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Comments

  1. Eduardo Freitas - 8 years ago

    I have a Macbook Pro 13″ 2015 and it’s the same thing here. :-/

  2. Eduardo Freitas - 8 years ago

    Never mind, I just launched iMassage and it was already logged in. It’s crazy haha

  3. I turned iMessage off and back on and it works fine now. Originally I thought it happened due to two step verification.

  4. Tak Soak - 8 years ago

    brand new rmbp 13″ doing same thing. No iMessage, FaceTime or keychain.

  5. I have this issue … iCloud doesn’t login. It looks like its going to, but it just keeps spinning and spinning. I have an install from a backup (switched to a new Macbook Pro 13, 2015, OSX 10.11.3). I need to App Store, iCloud, iTunes … none login ….

  6. davidfindley19 - 8 years ago

    I didn’t have any issues with iMessage or FaceTime, but for the life of me I cannot get anything to download from the App Store.

  7. Daniel Dowiat - 8 years ago

    Brand new iMac…set up Tuesday (3.22) was efficient with the exception of the inability of iMessage and FaceTime to activate/log in with Apple ID. Had zero issues upgrading other devices to 10.11.14. Isolated to the new iMac it seems in my case. Contacted apple support and they were helpful troubleshooting several different options, but ultimately couldn’t provide a solution. Did a capture data on an attempted log in of iMessage with hopes that engineering can provide a solution. Quoted a 3-5 day turnaround on that so we will see. Apple is clearly aware of the issue as my discussions with the different layers of tech support confirmed that. Solution?….time will tell!

  8. I have been dealing with this for months..no fix no options just does not work anymore,its simple.

  9. Vamsi Deepak Gadey - 8 years ago

    Yep, lost 2 days trying to deal with this issue on my brand new Mac.

    The new Mac signup stalled at the iCloud screen – the spinner would just not go away. If you skip this step – and try to get into iCloud through System Preferences later on, the whole system got into a wonky state with error messages. Initially I thought it could be something wrong with my iCloud, but everything works just fine on my iOS devices.

    Tried every possible fix on 10.11.3 (which is what came with the new Macs) – and with 10.11.4 update.

    Apple Support was clueless yesterday and today morning, but now seem fully aware of this problem. The engineering team has been in touch with me to get a diagnostic dump and actively follow up with questions. The senior support rep said that Apple is actively working on the fix. Right now, they are planning a server side fix by Friday which could fix this. But, she also mentioned a new OS X update might have to come out as well – they are still investigating.

  10. tissot11 - 8 years ago

    That’s the quality of Apple software these days Craig Federighi is proud about.

  11. Same here. Cannot add the second mobile number…. And I’ve tried everything!

  12. AeronPeryton - 8 years ago

    You should update the title of the article to reflect that the issue was server side and not related to a software update.

  13. Martin Samsøe Nielsen - 8 years ago

    The issue appears to be fixed now. At least for me. It happened around 10hrs ago, according to the email I got when my Macbook finally managed to sign in – it had been trying to for more than half a day.

  14. Jeferson Zick - 8 years ago

    Now, for me, came running, he stayed two days unable to loggin, MBP 2011

  15. appleisgrindingmygears - 8 years ago

    Calendar kept throwing errors but iMessage and Facetime worked

  16. Daniel Dowiat - 8 years ago

    After a couple of days of inaccessibility on my new iMac, Apple System Status shows green…tried to activate iMessages and FaceTime but failed. So I logged out of iCloud and then logged backed in. Then iMessage and FaceTime activated after that. Seems to be fixed….til next time.

  17. Mine was down all yesterday but seems to be working now

  18. Aaron Nishina - 8 years ago

    My friend bought a brand new 15″ MBP yesterday. Activation during the setup hung on creation of a new Apple ID. Hard reset and skipped that. Logging in to the Apple ID website worked and the new ID had been created. Mac App Store, Updates, iTunes, and iMessage failed to login. Just a spinning grey circle with the app basically hanging. Force quit was required to back out. Logging in to iCloud seemed to work tho.

    It was running 10.11.3 Doing CMD-R during a reboot and installing clean to 10.11.4 seemed to fix it. YMMV.

  19. Wiley Wos (@wileywos76) - 8 years ago

    I had the same problem too on my Macbook Pro. I ended up reinstalling OS X which seemed to fix it.

  20. Andl Huber - 8 years ago

    Mac Pro (Mid2012) – the same thing. Could not sign in to iMessage.

  21. tcb13 - 8 years ago

    And… this annoying bug is back again!

  22. I just upgraded to a new MacBook 15″ 2015 and its doing this to me now. I spent 6+ hours total on the phone with a senior Apple support specialist, end result today was a call back saying the engineers are aware of the issue and many users are affected but at this time they have no resolution nor do they know when we should see a resolution. I am unable to use any Apple services on my brand new Apple MacBook, so silly. Definitely not impressed :| I have also tried many of the suggstions on the forums but nothing has worked for me, i continue to get “an unknown error has occurred” in FaceTime, iMessage and iCloud.

  23. Santosh Barat - 8 years ago

    I have a problem signing in to Facetime and Message. on Mac with OX10.11.5 El CAPITAN, Has Apple come out with any solution to this problem.

  24. mr 1Dx (@Thebetaboy) - 8 years ago

    i am having the same problem, spoken to apple and they still don’t know how to fix this. I am so disappointed that a company like apple with all the billions of dollars they have, can’t be bothered to get their engineers to sort this out, shame on you apple!

  25. Adrian Schiller - 8 years ago

    After much trial and error I ‘think’ i found a solution… at least it worked for me. On your iPhone (or maybe iPad, i didn’t try it that way) go to SETTINGS > MESSAGES > SEND & RECEIVE and then add the email address that you use as your apple id & enter the p/w. It seems that this will then enable imessages sent via apple id – rather than your phone number – across all devices.

    • Dustin Burnett - 8 years ago

      I was hoping this would work. I have a 2010 mac tower 12 core that I use as my main work computer for Audio Production. I recently installed a SSD drive and re-installed my whole system from the ground up. Now iMessage isn’t working on this computer. Still works perfectly on my laptop.

      • Jason Thompson - 7 years ago

        Dustin – I have very similar set up (although I would like to ask you about the SSD setup) and just got a new iphone and am experiencing the same thing. Were you able to get past the issue? Works fine on my laptop w/ same OS.

  26. I have the same issue. I have tried everything. 10.11.4 – had a bad hd so Apple replaced my HD and my Motherboard. When putting everything back on (clean install) everything worked except iMessages and Facetime.

    I have tried the following:
    1. Logged out of all devices, logged back in.
    2. Zapped PRAM multiple times.
    3. Tried safe mode
    4. Removed files from Library/Preferences.
    5. Removed iCloud/added/removed/repeat.
    6. Called Apple – went through three support people – escalated it to higher ups. Apple guy did not know of issue. Waiting to hear what to do.
    7. Changed ID’s from phone numbers to emails (as suggested below).

    Any suggestions are appreciated!

  27. Antonio Romano - 8 years ago

    i have a mac mini and indeed cannot log in on both Facetime and iMessage. this is ridiculous. Apples shall solve it. i have been using apple since 2000 and this is really not acceptable…i can even consider not to buy Apple anymore

  28. Antonio Romano - 8 years ago

    i have a mac mini and i am experiencing the same issue. this is ridiculous. i have been using Apple products since 2000 and i would be very disappointed if Apple does not solve the issue.

  29. Kimberly Eason - 8 years ago

    wow its not just me… well i wish this would stop because im sick of not being able to use my mac smh

  30. Nikola Marjanović - 8 years ago

    This is a nightmare, almost two weeks without imessage and facetime, i tried to fix with and still didn’t find any solution, after upgrading OSX to 10.11.6

  31. Adnan Nahas - 8 years ago

    i am having the same problem :|

  32. Olga Sergeevna Kim - 8 years ago

    has anyone found a fix here? This is happening to me now, and no matter what i do nothing will work. Help!

    • Jeffrey Siegel - 8 years ago

      I spent over an hour with Apple Tech Support on the phone last night and here’s what eventually worked for me:

      1) I did a fresh reinstall of OS X from the recovery partition
      2) I went to id.apple.com and logged into the iCloud account that I use on Messenger
      3) I found the device that I can’t sign into Messenger with at the bottom of the page and deleted it from that account (I have multiple other devices which were working fine at the time)
      4) I shut down the machine (complete power down, not a reboot)
      5) When re-starting the machine, Zap the PRAM (hold down Command-Option-P-R before the machine chimes, keep holding until it goes blank and then release)

      After do this in this order I re-logged in to my Messages account from the Messages->Preferences->Accounts page and everything returned to normal.

      Hope this helps

  33. Sam FunPianos Ferguson - 8 years ago

    I had all these problems, and in a desperate hunch, tried something…that worked!

    iMessage is vital to saving time for me like everyone else here…not picking up the phone and using my thumbs every time one of 10 texts per minute come in. iMessage works everywhere except the new laptop I’m taking on the road in the morning.

    My …@mac.com Apple ID wasn’t working, but I looked on my iMac, where I was reminded that on that machine, I’m also logged in under …@icloud.com and …@me.com (as well as two phone numbers)

    I logged in under …@icloud.com, and now all 5 of these things work in iMessage on my laptop.

    It may be relevant that I did this under settings, not under the original setup window.

    Good luck, I hope this works for everyone!

  34. I have a Mac OS X 10.11.5 El captain Virtual Machine In VMWare And I have the same problem

  35. pvrionid - 8 years ago

    I have upgraded my MacPro 4,1 (early 2009) and have the exact same issue. Also when I shut down the computer it disables the FindMyMac and enables the Guest account. Apple really made it this time…

  36. pvrionid - 8 years ago

    Thank you Jeffrey. With the “re-starting the machine, Zap the PRAM (hold down Command-Option-P-R before the machine chimes, keep holding until it goes blank and then release)” it fixed my issue.

  37. I have a Mac OS X El Captain 10.11 VMwawre Virtual Machine And I Get An Error Message: “An error occurred during activation. Try again.”

  38. Shanaf Ashiyaana - 7 years ago

    I’m not able to login in to FaceTime in my MacBook Pro 15″ Retina. It shows “An error occurred during activation. Try again”. It’s working fine in my phone!

  39. fallingscalesmedia - 7 years ago

    Thank you Jeffrey Siegel!

    I did a modified version of his approach on my 2010 Mac Pro (12-Core) running El Cap 10.11.6 (15G31) and it worked.

    1) I went to id.apple.com and logged into the iCloud account that I use on Messenger
    2) I found the device that I can’t sign into Messenger with at the bottom of the page and deleted it from that account (I have multiple other devices which were working fine at the time)
    4) I restarted the machine
    5) When re-starting the machine, Zap the PRAM (hold down Command-Option-P-R before the machine chimes, keep holding until it goes blank and then release)

    After doing this in that order, I re-logged in to my Messages account from the Messages->Preferences->Accounts page and everything returned to normal.

  40. Ashley Sexton-Radney - 7 years ago

    Hello,

    After trying many of the suggestions I found online, what worked for me was going to System Preferences -> Network and creating a new network location using the same router and network settings as I used previously — no changes other than a new network location. I hope this helps others out as this is quite frustrating.

    Ashley

  41. Tanya Sabo - 7 years ago

    I face timed and imessaged just yesterday…12/31/16. But when I logged into my mac today I cannot do either one. FaceTime says an error occurred during activation. try again. I have tried, many times. iMessage says the same thing. This is so frustrating!!

  42. Gla Dys - 7 years ago

    i have turned iMessage and FaceTime on and off several times and it still doesn’t let me log in- also it doesn’t let me update to Sierra.
    Thanks

  43. Della Kayser Breitbach - 7 years ago

    Just realized now not able to log in to FaceTime and iMessage macOS Sierra 10.12.3

  44. Hoya Deniece - 7 years ago

    my macbook 2012 OS x 10.11.6 won’t allow me to sign into iMessage or FaceTime :( tried everything and still doesn’t work :( please help as soon as possible.

  45. Argh! Back in December ’16 iMessage was working just fine on my MacBook Pro. Now, running macOS Sierra 10.12.3, I can no longer sign in. I’ve tried all the recommended ‘fixes,’ but nothing works. I just keep getting the error message that account can’t be activated.

  46. Douglas Garrett - 7 years ago

    Upgraded to Os10.12.1. Now having same issues as described above. Facetime was functionally prior to upgrade. Now cannot connect face-to-face with my Granddaughters who have relocated out of state. What a drag!!!

  47. sendsley7662 - 7 years ago

    Has this been fixed??? I’ve upgraded to 10.11.6 still having the issue!! Very frustrating!!

  48. Nathan Oyer - 6 years ago

    just fixed this issue with support after hours of troubleshooting. The fix was running the command below in a terminal session, then rebooting. All is good now.

    sudo rm /Library/Preferences/com.apple.apsd.plist

  49. Just started having this issue in 10.11.6 on my 2009 Mac Pro. LAME.

  50. still can’t log into message

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Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

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