I'm an Android user planning to switch to an iPhone when the next models launch. I tried creating an Apple Account ahead of time so my address and payment details would already be saved for launch day.
Creating the account repeatedly failed through the Apple Store website on both my Android phone and Windows PC, including attempts using private browsing and desktop mode. I eventually installed Apple Music on Windows, where I was finally able to create an account with my primary email address, which I've used for about 10 years.
I could sign in on my Windows PC, add my address and payment details, and access the store there. However, signing in on my Android phone failed. The following day, Apple told me that the account was under review for 24 hours. After that period, I received an email saying the request had been reviewed and access to the account was denied, without any explanation.
Apple Support, including a manager, couldn't explain the decision, restore access, or release my email address so I could create another account. I did make several creation attempts, but only because the website kept failing during the normal signup process.
Has anyone experienced a newly created Apple Account being reviewed and permanently denied without an explanation? Does anyone know what can trigger this, whether the account or email address can be recovered, or whether I should simply wait and create a new account during iPhone setup?
3 Answers
It may be better to treat the denied account as unusable and make a fresh one only when you have the iPhone, using the official setup process and one device. Avoid repeatedly retrying the same address or creating several accounts in quick succession, since that could lead to more automated restrictions. There doesn’t appear to be a reliable way for customers to reclaim an email address after Apple has denied an account.
Since you don’t have the iPhone yet, the safest option may be to wait and create the account during the phone’s setup process. The setup flow is designed to create an account if needed and then guide you through transferring data from Android. Trying to prepare everything through several different devices and services may have triggered an automated security review, although Apple support would need to confirm that.
I’ll wait now rather than risk having my secondary email locked too. I originally wanted everything ready for a faster launch-day purchase, but the signup process made that impossible.
The repeated signup attempts, switching between devices, and adding payment or banking information immediately afterward could have caused Apple’s fraud-prevention system to flag the account. That doesn’t prove you did anything wrong, but automated systems sometimes deny access without giving the customer useful details. Unfortunately, support may not be able to override that decision or explain the internal criteria.
That’s what I’m planning to do. I only kept retrying because the website wouldn’t complete a basic account registration, but I don’t want the same thing to happen with my backup email.