Something strange is happening. Some Apple IDs are mysteriously banning their users, and so far there's no explanation as to why this is happening. But it's a real thing, and it happened to me early this morning.
Apple iPhone 15 — one of the devices that has been hit by a mysterious lock.
April 28 update below. This post was first published on April 27, 2024.
This was first reported by users on social media, and has been happening since the evening of Friday, April 26, as people turn to their Apple devices like iPhone, iPad, and Mac, only to find that they are locked.
It happened to me first thing on the morning of Saturday, April 27, and it was not a pleasant feeling. Most of all, it's just confusing. What did I do that caused my iPhone to tell me my Apple ID was blocked? Did someone hack my password? Did I leave my iPhone unlocked somewhere without realizing it? Did the guy on the train who I asked to take care of my stuff while I went to the bathroom somehow have access to the stuff on my iPad?
Of course, all my devices stayed working, but none of them would let me into Apple apps, so I could be sure it was me. It turns out that doing so is impossible without resetting my Apple ID password.
As the day went on, I read on social media that I wasn't alone in this. It was such a relief, maybe I hadn't done anything wrong after all.
Getting back into My Account requires a simple, straightforward process: thinking of a new Apple ID password and setting that up. It's not that difficult (although I'll remember it? Thank goodness for 1Password), but it's an annoyance. In addition, as he pointed out 9to5MacPasswords for apps previously set up via iCloud have also been reset. Oh, and I needed to set up messages on my Mac again.
Really, I went down lightly. I had stolen device protection enabled, but I was home when I checked my phone this morning. If this had happened a few hours earlier, I would have been on that train I mentioned, which my iPhone would rightly have deemed an untrustworthy site.
It's difficult to know exactly how widespread this is, but the breadth of comments on social media suggests it's not an isolated incident affecting a few people.
There is no information from Apple yet about what might happen or what has happened to the company System status web page It says that everything is fine with the Apple ID, which could at least mean that Apple thinks the issue isn't happening now. But the reason remains a mystery.
Let's look at the positive side: It's a good idea to update passwords more often than many of us do (including me, of course). But it's a process I could have done without today.
I will report back when it becomes more known.
Updated April 28. There's still no information from Apple about what may have happened, but there are increasing reports of people being affected. like the edge One user on Mastodon reportedly said that an Apple support team member told them that “sometimes random security improvements are added to your account.” That's fair enough, but that doesn't seem to be the case: there seem to be too many people reporting having the same problem, including more than a few readers who have reached out to me, for this to seem like a random little thing.
This isn't the first time this has happened, as one developer reported something similar happening in the fall of 2023.
The thing is, each case is separate, so it's difficult to determine whether everyone in the current predicament has been affected by a glitch or whether there are a lot of different reasons for the reset. Although having so much happen at the same moment seems confusing.
It seems that one of the most time-consuming things to do when it comes to getting things right is coming up with new app-specific passwords. These are the ones provided by some applications such as Fantastical and
If you are affected by this, mate Forbes contributor Davey Winder It has an excellent way of sorting app passwords, with the sensible advice that since you're only allowed a maximum of 25 of these passwords, this might be a good time to remove any unused passwords.