Is my iMac really too old to add email accounts to Apple mail?

VPN
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I have what apparently is a relic of an iMac, mentioned in the book of genesis, forged by the creator Himself, all the way back in *2017*. 2 of my email accounts (hotmail and UK2) that were previously working without issue on Apple Mail recently stopped letting me send emails. I deleted the accounts thinking I could just reinstate them but no dice. I’m given the message ‘Unable to verify account name or password’ even though I know both are correct. I spoke to Apple support and they told me this is likely due to the fact that because my iMac is so desperately ancient it cannot update to the latest operating system which will be affecting iMail. I also use Cato VPN for work which might be the issue.

I know Apple absolutely love saying ‘Ah yeah, sorry, your device is too old you’ll have to buy another one’ and i’ve no doubt this is another case of ‘Planned Obsolescence’ but I just want to see if anyone knows a way round this? It’s incredibly annoying not having my email accounts in one place and having to use a web browser to view them separately.

I’m using Ventura 13.6.9 and there are no further updates displaying.

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they told me this is likely due to the fact that because my iMac is so desperately ancient it cannot update to the latest operating system which will be affecting iMail

BS.

iMac 2017 is listed as vintage, but not obsolete. I’m using iMac 2017 (27" 5K) too and it still receives Ventura 13.6.9 update just recently. My Mail app runs smoothly with accounts from all 3 mainstream mail service providers: Apple iCloud, Google Mail, and Microsoft Exchange. Zero problem at all.

3

When it is 7 years old it’s usually considered obsolete or soon-to-be-obsolete by Apple, for the purposes of providing support. That being said, it should not magically stop working.

In my experience, VPNs or security apps are typically the culprit of errors such as this. Try temporarily disabling VPN, as you said you have one. Otherwise, try temporarily disabling any security apps you might have running.

Edit for clarity.

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  1. The creator Himself died in 2011, so I don’t know who forged your iMac.

  2. Microsoft are stopping using IMAP protocol (with user and password) for mail client storage connection to MS mail servers (e.g hotmail). Now requires two factor authentication as a “Microsoft Exchange” type email. Only recent (not sure how recent) macOS support that. You can blame MS or Apple (or both) - the choice is yours.

  3. Try deleting your hotmail account in Apple Mail, enable 2FA with your MS account and recreate Mail connection as a “Microsoft Exchange” type.

  4. You can connect to hotmail using Safari unless your macOS is very old.

  5. I don’t know about UK2.

  6. You don’t say what version of macOS.

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If your Mac cannot run at least macOS 13 you don’t need to be using it anymore. Look in to OLP.

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I use Thunderbird as a mail client. Still works on my older Macs as well (some are much older than yours).

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What MacOS version are you using? Do the email accounts work if you disconnect from VPN? Have you tried removing and re-adding the email accounts? Do they work if you log in via web mail?

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Try Thunderbird

If you use Cato VPN, you also might use other MDM apps? That might restrict what you can do

9

A friend of my aunt in Roswell NM ran across this in 2019 with a super ancient iPad … facebook, email, YouTube and more had no available updates for years… and eventually everything came to a halt.

Using safari to read email was the last resort (NOTHING else worked at that point), and it was starting to have hiccups on occasion even with safari. We got her a new iPad (in 2019) and at some point in the next 3-5 years it’ll be in the same predicament as her earlier machine… for now she’s a happy camper tho. :folded_hands:

I think the writing is on the wall for your machine though. :pensive_face: