Can't sign into Apple account on a Golden Gate b1 VM

Can you be more specific about how you’re testing this:

• What version of macOS are you using for the host?
• And what version for the guest?
• Are you using an existing third-party VM app? Or something you created?
• Did you install Xcode 27 beta on the host?

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Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

The host is macOS 26.5. The guest is currently running 27.0 b1.

I'm using Tart as the VM app.

Initially I wasn't able to install the 27.0 beta due to the known incompatibilities between the 27.0 beta ipsw and macOS < 26.6, so I created this VM image by installing 27.0 beta on a spare Mac, then creating the VM there and moving it back to my production Macs.

Hmmm, I would expect that to work. There are expected consequences of moving the VM between machines — it changes the provisioning UDID — but that shouldn’t stop it from logging in to an Apple Account.

I just tried this here in my office and I’m also having problems, although it has different symptoms that what you’ve described. I’m gonna dig into this some more and get back to you.

In the meantime, however, I wanted to share one specific piece of advice: Make sure the Apple Account you’re using has two-factor authentication enabled. Based on my previous testing, that’s a requirement.

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Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

Yes, this account has a trusted phone number and I get the 2FA prompt when I sign into it in Safari.

A fresh install of 27.0 beta 4 on a 26.6 host results in the same problem. I tried to sign in as part of the VM install and through System Settings, with the same verification failed/unknown error result.

So, with macOS 26.6 released I’m back working on Virtualization issues. See this post for my basic setup.

With that, I did the following:

1. In UTM, I cloned the macOS 26.6 VM.
2. In System Settings > General > About, I gave the VM a meaningful name (experience has shown that this is important when dealing with two-factor authentication).
3. In System Settings > Sign In, I entered the credentials for my test Apple Account. This has two-factor authentication enabled.
4. It then prompted me for, and I entered, a two-factor code.
5. I continued through the two-factor enrolment process.

I then repeated this process with my macOS 27.0b4 VM. It got stuck after step 4. I entered the two-factor code and it accepted it, but it wouldn’t move on to the subsequent steps in the enrolment process.

I’m not sure what’s going on here. I will do some digging.

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—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

I installed a brand new Tart VM from the 26.6 .ipsw, 26.6 host, still cannot sign into my Apple account. I changed the VM name to "Tahoe VM" and it still fails with verification failed/unknown error result.

I tried a second Apple account that also has 2FA enabled and it failed with the same error.

Same experience with two different macOS hosts.

I spent a bunch of time working on this issue today. My conclusion is that things actually work, but:

• They’re really slow.
• There are UI problems that can cause you to fall off the happy path.

Specifically, this was the sticking point I hit earlier:

I continued through the two-factor enrolment process.

macOS in the guest presents the UI asking for the two-factor code even though I’ve already given it the code in step 4. In earlier tests I got confused and starting trying to enter the code again. That didn’t end well. In this afternoon’s test I just waited. And waited. And waited some more. And eventually it continued with the enrolment process and I was able to completely log in.

I’ve filed my own bug about the stuff I saw (r. 183435509).

I installed a brand new Tart VM

Give it a whirl with UTM, just as an experiment. Nothing against Tart, but it’d be good for us to both be testing with the same app.

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—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

I just ran through it with a macOS 26.6 guest on UTM. Same outcome.

I've looked in the past and not found anything obvious in Console.app. Is there a debug profile I can install that will shine more light on the failure?

I just ran through it with a macOS 26.6 guest on UTM. Same outcome.

Hmmmm, maybe I’ve got this backwards. I’ve been testing with macOS 26.6 as the host and then macOS 26.6 and macOS 27 beta as the guest. But the above makes me think you’re testing with macOS 27 beta as the host. Is that right?

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—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

No, you've had it right. macOS 26 host, 26 and 27 beta guests.

Hmmm, that’s weird. Consider:

• Lots of folks rely on this feature so if it were universally broken then I would’ve heard about it.
• As part of my recent tests I’ve been talking with the Virtualization team, and it’s working for them.
• And it’s working for me in my setup — albeit with some serious delays — and my setup is composed of all public bits (so, stuff that’s either released or seeded), meaning there’s no Apple internal magic going on.

Is there a debug profile I can install that will shine more light on the failure?

No, but that’s largely because Apple Account sign in includes a bunch of logging by default. As you might imagine, Apple’s engineers get a lot of reports about sign in problems, and this logging is crucial to debugging those.

Unfortunately I don’t have that level of experience, so it’s hard for me to offer concrete suggestions on that front. The one thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of interesting logging tends to accumulate under the com.apple.authkit subsystem.

Still, I think it’s worth you filing a bug about this. That process would look something like this:

1. Create a text doc where you can record a rough timeline of events.
2. On macOS 26.6, use UTM to create a new VM from the macOS 26.6 IPSW.
3. In the guest, once you run through MacBuddy, use System Settings > General > About to give the VM a new, unique name. (I’ve found that important when dealing with two-factor authentication.)
4. In System Settings > Sign In, start the sign in process. As you run through the process, make a note of the rough event times in the text doc from step 1.
5. Once things fail, trigger a sysdiagnose in both the host and the guest.
6. File a bug with those two sysdiagnose logs and the timeline from step 1.

When I did this I configured the host’s menu bar clock to show the time with seconds and then started a screen recording on the host at step 1. That way I could go back and review the screen recording to get an accurate timeline.

Oh, one last thing: On the host, make sure you’re signed in with an Apple Account, and that the account has two-factor enabled.

Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

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I really appreciate your efforts to help!