I made an Apple ID when I got my new job, using my work email address. I only used it for a calendar that would sync peacefully with my iPhone via iCloud.

Now a few years later I find I have to be setting up several new services with Apple, each of which requires it's own unique Apple ID. By "unique" I mean you can't use it for any of Apple's other special services. ASM and DEP are two. Anyway, DEP had already been set up with its own dedicated email address before I got here so that was settled. I decided to use my work email for ASM. A week of chatter back and forth with apple, and even emails/calls with our CIO to authorize it's use, because it's going to be 'representing' our organization.

But after setting up the account and getting it validated, it wouldn't let me finish the activation, wouldn't let me login. An hour spent on the phone with Apple, numerous techs and several transfers. Finally the "senior advisor" tells me I probably need to turn on two factor authentication for this part to work. Okay, fair enough. Though I was familiar with the process I let him walk me through the steps, to make sure I was (A) doing it right and (B) doing what they specifically told me to do rather than freelancing it.

Now I was signed in on my iPhone, and had in the past been signed in at home, but my home account was currently signed out. When I started the two-factor authentication, it sent a code to my phone with sort of worked but refused to complete, so the rep told me to sign that one out and back in again. That's when things got weird. My phone now thought TFA was turned on and told me it had sent a code to my "other devices" which I needed to enter. But my home machine wasn't signed in, and my work computer was now "halfway" signed in, so neither got a code.

The same problem repeated on the work computer, it said it sent a code, but nothing got a code. Attempts to sign the home computer back in again met with the same fate.

The Final Hopeâ„¢ was to click the "unable to verify your account" link at the sign-in, presumably for a situation exactly like mine where I HAVE no other devices already signed in to TFA with. Clicking this causes System Preferences to pinwheel indefinitely. (even after all manner of resets and on every device)

"Time to escalate this to engineering." That was over a week ago. I called back for a status and "we haven't heard back from engineering yet. But I did some research and found there are other users experiencing this problem, so they're aware of the issue and working on it." I can't just create another email address and use that because we've already discovered that once you submit an ASM application and it's approved, they won't let you submit another request. (it gets auto-rejected) So I have to use that AppleID.

So..... anyone else here unfortunate enough to get locked out of their AppleID because they dared to turn on TFA with no other devices logged in? (side-note, my personal AppleID is working fine with TFA)


I work for the Department of Redundancy Department