February 2023 Week 3 Part 1 Weekly Apple Mac Repair Requests. Updated 2023

Weekly Apple Mac Repair Request. Week 3 Part 1. Updated 2023

Good day ZA Support Readers

This week I want to discuss the firmware lock.

What is a firmware lock on a Macbook?

A firmware password prevents users who don’t have the password from starting up from any internal or external storage device other than the startup disk you’ve selected. It also blocks the ability to use most startup key combinations.

If your Mac is using a firmware password, the lock icon will appear when you try to start up from another disk or volume, such as an external drive or macOS Recovery. To continue you need to enter the firmware password.

The Reported Issue

My Mac is locked and I cannot get it to operate. Sometimes you lock yourself out because you forget your password, or you just got muddled and entered it wrong a few times.

The Question

Is it possible to unlock a locked Macbook?

You can unlock it by entering the passcode that you created when you locked it with Find My. You have three options if you cannot remember the passcode.

– Sign in to iCloud.com/find

– select your Mac from the menu

– select unlock and follow the steps to verify your identity.

How to unlock your Apple ID

1. Go to iforgot.apple.com.
2. Enter your Apple ID – usually the email address associated with your Apple account.
3. You may be asked to confirm the phone number associated with your account.
4. You will then get Reset Password notifications on your devices

Final Outcome

If you have a pre-2017 Mac a specialist with the correct tools can assist to unlock your Mac. Verification of identity will be required.

Any post-2017 Macs can only be unlocked by the owner via iCloud.

Until Part 2 where we will be addressing more interesting issues.

EL Admin Office