# Apple ID

7 Hacker News commenters recommended Apple ID and 86 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Needed to sign in to Apple devices, iCloud and the App Store, with in-store recovery help. Critics say accounts can be locked with no appeal.

## Why people recommend it

- Recovery through stores and human support (2 comments): "you can still walk into a store with ID and recover your online identity" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49748789)) "Again, apple provides support, google does not." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48137891))
- Account changes possible after long requests (2 comments): "after over a decade of requests and fading hope Apple actually did allow me to change the email address" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46252702)) "you can still walk into a store with ID and recover your online identity" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49748789))

## What people warn about

- Accounts locked with no recourse (7 comments): "Apple's capricious BS, I probably wouldn't go that route since if their braindead fraud systems or braindead employees decide you're a threat actor" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46737843)) "massive unaccountable corporations control all our data, devices and connectivity, and can lock us out of all of that on a whim or accidentally" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46255123)) "So every couple of months I log in, try a few other possible answers, get them wrong, and get locked out for a bit." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46252294))
- Locked accounts disable devices and data (3 comments): "deleted all the associated users along with the Apple ID which I used to log into a testing device, which now became a fairly expensive paperweight" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47518529)) "the few instances that I used one, I hit that risk myself and now have an expensive paper weight instead of a tablet" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46259414)) "no way to pay train tickets because you cannot install the app because your Apple / Play Store account is locked" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46255764))
- Automated support that fails to help (2 comments): "If Apple doesn't have the sense to reply to this in a sensible manner then that company is in far worse shape than I thought." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46252684)) "LLM customer service, un-empowered customer service, and arbitration agreements make this a crazy relationship" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46255253))
- Email-only Apple ID forces multiple accounts (2 comments): "Apple CREATED the multiple-accounts problem for millions of people by implementing their idiotic "Apple ID must be an E-mail address" policy." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46728764)) "I basically need two Apple IDs because switching the region for your App Store is very inconvenient if you have any subscriptions." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46744568))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Microsoft account](https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-account.md): 8 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://appleid.apple.com/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Apple ID", https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-id/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).