A number of Apple users are reporting that their AppleID has been locked on their iOS devices, with no obvious reason as to why. The problem seems to have begun at around midnight, Eastern. Users can resolve the issue relatively simply by going through the Unlock ID process, answering security questions and picking a new password.
AppleID issues reported on Reddit
The issue was first highlighted by Reddit user ‘markthehipster’, who posted: “I was just listening to music then a double pop-up happened that I need to enter my password in iCloud settings, then after I entered it said I need to verify myself and that my AppleID got locked.”
The Reddit post further explained:
“Got a call with verification code, then had to change my password, then got a new call because 2FA, signed out of all devices just in case.. all good now, BUT.. is that a regular thing Apple can do? Did that happen for a reason, or they just thought I was being hacked? I changed my AppleID and password around 2-3 weeks ago, but I’ve verified everything since, even talked with Apple Customer Service a couple of times on chat and phone.. strange, but appreciate it Apple.”
Others then commented saying that they too had had a similar issue, confirming they had also been locked out of services such as Apple Music.
Cause unknown
The reason for the problem is, at the time of this writing, unknown. 9to5mac speculated: “It is possible that some unscrupulous group is attempting to mass brute-force hack a lot of Apple IDs, causing this wave of password resets to happen all at once. It may also be a bug on Apple’s part”.
However, an Apple source, who is not authorised to speak for the firm, told AppleInsider: “At present, this doesn’t appear to be an Apple bug. Whatever it is, it is only impacting a minute percentage of our users.”
My password wouldn’t work yesterday. Had to reset going through all the steps. Seems like I had to do this earlier this year.
Thanks for flagging this, Charlotte.
I was a part of that ‘minute percentage’, apparently. It occurred after midnight EDT for me at least. When I awoke pre-dawn, I saw the notice on my iPad Pro which displays the ‘NIghtstand’ clock and weather app overnight and this message was pasted atop the display, These were the exact steps I had to repeat.
Oddly, I got locked out of my account about two weeks ago when trying to purchase my new iPad Pro and accessories, and had only just changed my password. This happened simply as I was logging into my Apple Store account, and may have been triggered by autofill, as it may not have attempted to use an even older password. Not sure what happened, but it seemed like a strong response to a slight offence.
That said, my sense is that Apple have stepped up their security protocols, and it doesn’t take much to set them off. The silver lining is that it doesn’t hurt to change your password frequently and irregularly.
I got it, too. And also had just recently had to change my iCloud password.