For unknown reasons, my MacBook Pro, a 2019 model with Touch Bar, signed me out of iMessage and FaceTime. I tried to log back in with my Apple ID but kept getting the error, “An error occurred during authentication.” I even went to a local Apple reseller but they couldn’t help. I think there’s no issue with my Apple ID because I can still log into iCloud.com and appleid.apple.com with it. These apps (iMessage and FaceTime) works fine on my iPhone. They just won’t work on my MacBook. Does anyone know a fix? Please help!
The same error happened to me when I attempted to connect to iCloud on my laptop running Windows 10. What worked for me was to use my iPhone as a hotspot when logging into iCloud. Guess the message “An error occurred during authentication.” is related to network issues. It may also be helpful to use a different WiFi network.
Try logging into iMessage and FaceTime in Safe Mode. This is a troubleshooting mode that boots up your Mac with only the essential components. It can prevent third-party software from interfering with the connection.
If you can log back into the apps in Safe Mode, reboot your Mac normally, and try again without opening any other apps.
Generally, if the issue is gone in Safe Mode, it’s likely caused by third-party software intervention.
If you can’t log into iMessage or FaceTime despite that no other apps are running, the problem app may be running in the background. Open Activity Monitor to see if any app that’s not supposed to be running is active. If any, quit the process. If the app is no longer needed, you can also uninstall it.