New Macbook Air stuck in setup

February 18, 2019 11:58 AM

Hi folks. I have a new (refurb) 2017 Macbook Air, and I have literally just turned it on for the first time, and it is already borked in some way. Please help!

It went through the first couple of steps just fine (setting up my user account, signing in with my Apple ID) and then it prompted me to enter a 4-digit iCloud Security Code.

1) I entered an incorrect security code
2) I clicked "forgot code" and chose the "Approve from Other Device" method. This did not work at all. Nothing came up on my other device to approve.
3) I remembered my dang code and entered it
4) Now it has just sat there with the little spinny wheel next to the 4-digit code for an hour.

I can't go back a screen or forward (both "back" and "continue" are grayed out); when I click "forgot code" a pop-up prompts me to reset the keychain or approve from other device, but clicking those things does nothing.

I have found some advice online but it mostly pertains to upgrading the OS, rather than booting up a new laptop from scratch.

Help?

posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese to Technology (8 answers total)

What happens if you shut the Mac down and turn it back on?
posted by Hermione Granger at 12:01 PM on February 18, 2019

Response by poster: It took me through setup again and is now stuck again. I think maybe there is a problem with my icloud keychain more generally though. On another device I keep getting "there was a problem connecting to iCloud," and I cannot reset the keychain there either. Hrmph.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 12:10 PM on February 18, 2019

Best answer: You don't have to set up your Apple ID or iCloud to use your new computer. I would shut down and then restart the process but SKIP connecting either of those credentials to your Mac for now. iCloud may just be wonky today and it's not worth fussing with.
posted by Hermione Granger at 1:40 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

This exact thing happened to my MacBook Air and it’s because it’d been hacked. If you have proof of original purchase Apple will help you. (It needs ‘firm ware’ reinstalled.) I bought it secondhand and didn’t have original receipts, and now I have an unfixable Airbook. Every tech guru I’ve taken it to has come up stumps on getting around it.
posted by honey-barbara at 3:36 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

Have you called Apple support? Someone just gave me an Air and, surprisingly, I called Apple to walk me though the process of removing the old data and clean it off, thinking they would refer me to a website of instructions or something, but they walked me through about 3 hours of fixing things. It was pretty great customer service. No AppleCare, no receipt, 5 year old device.
posted by MountainDaisy at 6:38 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

Apple spent many hours with me too, over the phone and instore, until the problem was identified as corrupted firm ware.
posted by honey-barbara at 6:54 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

Start here: https://getsupport.apple.com

I personally would just setup the laptop as new and setup iCloud later. But If you reach out to AppleCare at the link above, they’ll help you through the process.
posted by sideshow at 6:19 AM on February 19, 2019

Response by poster: Thanks, all! Yes, it looks like my iCloud account was just not connecting properly yesterday. Ran through the whole thing today and everything worked just fine.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 9:21 AM on February 19, 2019