Some Mac Users Unable to Log Into iMessage and FaceTime Following OS X 10.11.4 Update

MacRumors has been receiving a growing number of complaints from customers who are unable to log into iMessage and FaceTime after updating to OS X 10.11.4, which was released to the public on Monday. There are threads covering the issue on the MacRumors forums and the Apple Support Communities, along with user complaints on various social media networks.

The majority of the complaints are coming from users who did a fresh install of OS X, requiring them to log into the FaceTime and iMessage services. When attempting to sign in, an error pops up or nothing happens after entering an Apple ID and password, as seen in the video below. Customers who have recently purchased a new Mac also appear to be affected, and while most customers with login problems seem to be running OS X 10.11.4, there are also reports from those using earlier versions of OS X.

Apple support has been advising users to try logging out of iCloud and disabling two-factor authentication, but these fixes have not worked for most users. Apple's system status page is not listing any outages, but it appears there may be a problem with the iMessage and FaceTime activation servers. One customer who purchased a new Mac was told that Apple's engineering team is aware of the issue and is working on a fix.

messagesactivationerror

Yesterday I bought a new 15-inch macbook pro from the Apple store. Out of the box, 10.11.1, computer would not sign in to my iCloud account with my Apple ID. So I skipped this part of the initial setup. Managed to sign in to iCloud in system preferences, and managed to see my Notes, Reminders, Safari bookmarks. But I have the same problem: I cannot sign in to Messages or FaceTime.

Today, after a couple of hours talking to Apple on the phone last night, I returned to the store to see if there was a fix, or whether the problem was specific to that machine. For an unrelated reason, I wanted to switch models: from the 15-inch to the 13-inch.

So I got a new 13-inch macbook pro this morning and decided to set it up in store. Same issue. I had a lengthy chat with one of the Apple Geniuses who could not figure this out. He did his best, but he could only give vague answers to my questions. He said it seems like an Apple server issue that "engineering" is aware of and are hoping to fix.

Affected customers have been unable to log in since first upgrading to OS X 10.11.4, and so far, there is no reliable fix available to solve the problem. Not all customers who did a clean install of OS X 10.11.4 or who purchased a new Mac are affected, and it is not clear if there is a pattern between users who are experiencing problems.

Popular Stories

iphone 16 pro ghost hand

5 Reasons to Skip This Year's iPhone 17 Pro

Thursday July 10, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series in two months, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive. If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming...
apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Expected Later This Year With These New Features

Saturday July 12, 2025 3:09 pm PDT by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Rumors Faster Wi-Fi Support The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports ...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 16 New Features

Friday July 11, 2025 12:40 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are only two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:A redesigned Dynamic Island: It has been rumored that all iPhone 17 models will have a redesigned Dynamic Island interface — it might ...
macbook pro blue green

M5 MacBook Pro No Longer Coming in 2025

Thursday July 10, 2025 12:38 pm PDT by
Apple does not plan to refresh any Macs with updated M5 chips in 2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models are now planned for the first half of 2026. Gurman previously said that Apple would debut the M5 MacBook Pro models in late 2025, but his newest report suggests that Apple is "considering" pushing them back to 2026. Apple is now said to be...
iphone 16 pro pro max

iPhone 17 Pro Models With BOE Displays Will Be Sold in China Only

Thursday July 10, 2025 11:59 pm PDT by
iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models with displays made by BOE will be sold exclusively in China, according to a new report. Last week, it emerged that Chinese display manufacturer BOE was aggressively ramping up its OLED production capacity for future iPhone models as part of a plan to recapture a major role in Apple's supply chain. Now, tech news aggregator Jukan Choi reports...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Complications

Apple Watch Ultra 3: What to Expect

Sunday July 13, 2025 10:30 am PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 is nearly over, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the Apple Watch Ultra 3:Satellite connectivity for sending and receiving text messages when Wi-Fi and cellular coverage is unavailable 5G support, up from LTE on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Likely a wide-angle OLED display that ...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

Apple Says iPhone Driver's Licenses Will Expand to These 8 U.S. States

Tuesday July 8, 2025 11:26 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states, Puerto Rico,...
iPhone 17 Air Colors Thumb 2

iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air Rumored to Come in These 9 Colors

Friday July 11, 2025 12:30 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air will be available in a total of nine color options, according to new information coming out of Asia. The iPhone 17 Air's expected color options. According to the leaker going by the account name "yeux1122" on the Korean blog Naver, accessory manufacturers are now producing camera protector rings for the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air in colors to match their...

Top Rated Comments

Glassed Silver Avatar
122 months ago
As per usual, the quality assurance team has done an outstanding job again.

Apple's system status page is not listing any outages [...]
Why even look at that page?
They'll post issues there after my local newspaper covered a big outage if anything.

Glassed Silver:mac
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adam9c1 Avatar
122 months ago
I feel like Apple has lost its edge. Sure MacBooks are pretty, but the recent HP business class looks good too.

Apple no longer "just works". Release stuff when it's ready, not like this. Yes, technology Is more complicated now vs Snow Leopard. Go back to the drawing board and be great again.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
122 months ago
Glad to see MacRumors finally covering what appears to be a growing story.

I hope Apple can get this fixed asap. This doesn't look good after the big event.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nt5672 Avatar
122 months ago
Don't see the problem. This is perfectly normal with Apple services. Marketing said deliver, worker bees pushed the ship button. It's innovative, its, new, it just may not work right. But they'll fix it. Probably, to make some people happy, we'll see another 8 betas since people seem to think that solves all problems.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kingofwale Avatar
122 months ago
this is why i NEVER update any apple devices when it gets pushed. Apple's QA team is a joke.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JungleNYC Avatar
122 months ago
Make a bootable clone before every update. Sadly, it's necessary.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)