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apple books

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  apple books Nige Danton <nige.danton@nospam.com> - 2025-08-06 06:21 +0000
    Re: apple books John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2025-08-06 19:40 +0100
      Re: apple books Nige Danton <nige.danton@nospam.com> - 2025-08-07 06:14 +0000
        Re: apple books "David B." <BD@hotmail.co.uk> - 2025-08-07 09:26 +0100
        Re: apple books "David B." <BD@hotmail.co.uk> - 2025-08-07 10:46 +0100
        Re: apple books John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2025-08-07 18:50 +0100
        Re: apple books Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> - 2025-08-08 05:42 +0000
    Re: apple books Mark <captain.black@gmail.com> - 2025-08-09 17:21 +0000

#181570 — apple books

I read books on my iphone and very occasionally on my MacBook. I’m logged
in with Apple ID on both. Recently bought a book in the iphone and wanted
to read it on the Mac. Opened Books on the Mac and could see the book (and
others) but when I tried to open was informed my computer not authorized.

Went to account settings which showed me as logged in. Nevertheless clicked
authorize this computer in usual way.

Did that (several times including rebooting the Mac) but it still tells me
Mac not authorised. 

Help please? What am I doing wrong?

-- 
Nige Danton - Replace the obvious with g.m.a.i.l

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#181572

On Wed, 6 Aug 2025 06:21:06 -0000 (UTC), Nige Danton
<nige.danton@nospam.com> wrote:

>I read books on my iphone and very occasionally on my MacBook. I’m logged
>in with Apple ID on both. Recently bought a book in the iphone and wanted
>to read it on the Mac. Opened Books on the Mac and could see the book (and
>others) but when I tried to open was informed my computer not authorized.
>
>Went to account settings which showed me as logged in. Nevertheless clicked
>authorize this computer in usual way.
>
>Did that (several times including rebooting the Mac) but it still tells me
>Mac not authorised. 
>
>Help please? What am I doing wrong?

 Quick question: do you have five other things "authorised" under this
Apple account? I think that's the limit. I think that  there *is* a
limit. :)  

 If you do, even if some are old and dead and were lost in the
Devonian Era, you need to de-authorise at least one before Apple will
add another one. 

 Apologies if you've already thought of this.

                                                        J.  

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#181573

John <Man@the.keyboard> wrote:
> On Wed, 6 Aug 2025 06:21:06 -0000 (UTC), Nige Danton
> <nige.danton@nospam.com> wrote:
> 
>> I read books on my iphone and very occasionally on my MacBook. I’m logged
>> in with Apple ID on both. Recently bought a book in the iphone and wanted
>> to read it on the Mac. Opened Books on the Mac and could see the book (and
>> others) but when I tried to open was informed my computer not authorized.
>> 
>> Went to account settings which showed me as logged in. Nevertheless clicked
>> authorize this computer in usual way.
>> 
>> Did that (several times including rebooting the Mac) but it still tells me
>> Mac not authorised. 
>> 
>> Help please? What am I doing wrong?
> 
>  Quick question: do you have five other things "authorised" under this
> Apple account? I think that's the limit. I think that  there *is* a
> limit. :)  
> 
>  If you do, even if some are old and dead and were lost in the
> Devonian Era, you need to de-authorise at least one before Apple will
> add another one. 
> 
>  Apologies if you've already thought of this

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I did have a fair number of legacy devices
authorised. Initially I just deauthorized the Mac’s no longer in use. That
didn’t help so I deauthorized everything. No change. Books shows me as
signed in and when I sign out it goes through the usual process but then
still shows me as signed in. I’m at a loss what to do next.
-- 
Nige Danton - Replace the obvious with g.m.a.i.l

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#181574

On 07/08/2025 07:14, Nige Danton wrote:
> John <Man@the.keyboard> wrote:
>> On Wed, 6 Aug 2025 06:21:06 -0000 (UTC), Nige Danton
>> <nige.danton@nospam.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I read books on my iphone and very occasionally on my MacBook. I’m logged
>>> in with Apple ID on both. Recently bought a book in the iphone and wanted
>>> to read it on the Mac. Opened Books on the Mac and could see the book (and
>>> others) but when I tried to open was informed my computer not authorized.
>>>
>>> Went to account settings which showed me as logged in. Nevertheless clicked
>>> authorize this computer in usual way.
>>>
>>> Did that (several times including rebooting the Mac) but it still tells me
>>> Mac not authorised.
>>>
>>> Help please? What am I doing wrong?
>>
>>   Quick question: do you have five other things "authorised" under this
>> Apple account? I think that's the limit. I think that  there *is* a
>> limit. :)
>>
>>   If you do, even if some are old and dead and were lost in the
>> Devonian Era, you need to de-authorise at least one before Apple will
>> add another one.
>>
>>   Apologies if you've already thought of this
> 
> Thanks for the reply. Yes, I did have a fair number of legacy devices
> authorised. Initially I just deauthorized the Mac’s no longer in use. That
> didn’t help so I deauthorized everything. No change. Books shows me as
> signed in and when I sign out it goes through the usual process but then
> still shows me as signed in. I’m at a loss what to do next.


Hi Nige,

You're not alone — this is a known issue with Apple Books' authorisation 
process. Even if your Mac shows you as signed in with the correct Apple 
ID, you may still get that "not authorised" error due to a DRM hiccup. 
Try the following:

     Re-authorise via Books app (not just iTunes/Music):
     In the Books app on your Mac, go to:
     Account > Authorizations > Authorize This Computer
     (Use the same Apple ID you used on your iPhone.)

     Also authorise via Music app:
     Weirdly, some Apple DRM bits still rely on the old iTunes framework.
     So open the Music app and also do:
     Account > Authorizations > Authorize This Computer

     Sign out/in of Books:
     In the Books app, go to Preferences and sign out of your Apple ID, 
then sign back in.

     De-authorise and re-authorise:
     If it still misbehaves, de-authorise the Mac completely (via 
Music), then re-authorise it.

     macOS version:
     Make sure you're running an up-to-date macOS, as some versions had 
bugs affecting Books syncing.

Let me know how you get on — this one’s a bit fiddly but usually fixable!

Cheers,

-- 
David

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#181575

On 07/08/2025 07:14, Nige Danton wrote:
> John <Man@the.keyboard> wrote:
>> On Wed, 6 Aug 2025 06:21:06 -0000 (UTC), Nige Danton
>> <nige.danton@nospam.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I read books on my iphone and very occasionally on my MacBook. I’m logged
>>> in with Apple ID on both. Recently bought a book in the iphone and wanted
>>> to read it on the Mac. Opened Books on the Mac and could see the book (and
>>> others) but when I tried to open was informed my computer not authorized.
>>>
>>> Went to account settings which showed me as logged in. Nevertheless clicked
>>> authorize this computer in usual way.
>>>
>>> Did that (several times including rebooting the Mac) but it still tells me
>>> Mac not authorised.
>>>
>>> Help please? What am I doing wrong?
>>
>>   Quick question: do you have five other things "authorised" under this
>> Apple account? I think that's the limit. I think that  there *is* a
>> limit. :)
>>
>>   If you do, even if some are old and dead and were lost in the
>> Devonian Era, you need to de-authorise at least one before Apple will
>> add another one.
>>
>>   Apologies if you've already thought of this
> 
> Thanks for the reply. Yes, I did have a fair number of legacy devices
> authorised. Initially I just deauthorized the Mac’s no longer in use. That
> didn’t help so I deauthorized everything. No change. Books shows me as
> signed in and when I sign out it goes through the usual process but then
> still shows me as signed in. I’m at a loss what to do next.

Hi Nige,

You're not alone — this is a known issue with Apple Books' authorisation 
process. Even if your Mac shows you as signed in with the correct Apple 
ID, you may still get that "not authorised" error due to a DRM hiccup. 
Try the following:

     Re-authorise via Books app (not just iTunes/Music):
     In the Books app on your Mac, go to:
     Account > Authorizations > Authorize This Computer
     (Use the same Apple ID you used on your iPhone.)

     Also authorise via Music app:
     Weirdly, some Apple DRM bits still rely on the old iTunes framework.
     So open the Music app and also do:
     Account > Authorizations > Authorize This Computer

     Sign out/in of Books:
     In the Books app, go to Preferences and sign out of your Apple ID, 
then sign back in.

     De-authorise and re-authorise:
     If it still misbehaves, de-authorise the Mac completely (via 
Music), then re-authorise it.

     macOS version:
     Make sure you're running an up-to-date macOS, as some versions had 
bugs affecting Books syncing.

Let me know how you get on — this one’s a bit fiddly but usually fixable!

Cheers,

-- 
David

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#181576

On Thu, 7 Aug 2025 06:14:12 -0000 (UTC), Nige Danton
<nige.danton@nospam.com> wrote:

>John <Man@the.keyboard> wrote:
>> On Wed, 6 Aug 2025 06:21:06 -0000 (UTC), Nige Danton
>> <nige.danton@nospam.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> I read books on my iphone and very occasionally on my MacBook. I’m logged
>>> in with Apple ID on both. Recently bought a book in the iphone and wanted
>>> to read it on the Mac. Opened Books on the Mac and could see the book (and
>>> others) but when I tried to open was informed my computer not authorized.
>>> 
>>> Went to account settings which showed me as logged in. Nevertheless clicked
>>> authorize this computer in usual way.
>>> 
>>> Did that (several times including rebooting the Mac) but it still tells me
>>> Mac not authorised. 
>>> 
>>> Help please? What am I doing wrong?
>> 
>>  Quick question: do you have five other things "authorised" under this
>> Apple account? I think that's the limit. I think that  there *is* a
>> limit. :)  
>> 
>>  If you do, even if some are old and dead and were lost in the
>> Devonian Era, you need to de-authorise at least one before Apple will
>> add another one. 
>> 
>>  Apologies if you've already thought of this
>
>Thanks for the reply. Yes, I did have a fair number of legacy devices
>authorised. Initially I just deauthorized the Mac’s no longer in use. That
>didn’t help so I deauthorized everything. No change. Books shows me as
>signed in and when I sign out it goes through the usual process but then
>still shows me as signed in. I’m at a loss what to do next.

 Yeah, I didn't think it would be that easy. :) Sorry. 

 As others have mentioned, perhaps a solution is in the settings for
the Apple or Books account profiles? Those have already been explained
very well above so I'll go away and stop bothering you. 

 Take care,

                                                  J. 

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#181577

Nige Danton <nige.danton@nospam.com> wrote:
> John <Man@the.keyboard> wrote:
>> On Wed, 6 Aug 2025 06:21:06 -0000 (UTC), Nige Danton
>> <nige.danton@nospam.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> I read books on my iphone and very occasionally on my MacBook. I’m logged
>>> in with Apple ID on both. Recently bought a book in the iphone and wanted
>>> to read it on the Mac. Opened Books on the Mac and could see the book (and
>>> others) but when I tried to open was informed my computer not authorized.
>>> 
>>> Went to account settings which showed me as logged in. Nevertheless clicked
>>> authorize this computer in usual way.
>>> 
>>> Did that (several times including rebooting the Mac) but it still tells me
>>> Mac not authorised. 
>>> 
>>> Help please? What am I doing wrong?
>> 
>> Quick question: do you have five other things "authorised" under this
>> Apple account? I think that's the limit. I think that  there *is* a
>> limit. :)  
>> 
>> If you do, even if some are old and dead and were lost in the
>> Devonian Era, you need to de-authorise at least one before Apple will
>> add another one. 
>> 
>> Apologies if you've already thought of this
> 
> Thanks for the reply. Yes, I did have a fair number of legacy devices
> authorised. Initially I just deauthorized the Mac’s no longer in use. That
> didn’t help so I deauthorized everything. No change. Books shows me as
> signed in and when I sign out it goes through the usual process but then
> still shows me as signed in. I’m at a loss what to do next.

This is quite a pain so I’d phone Apple Support UK on 0800 048 0408 or
email contactus.uk@euro.apple.com

-- 
Cheers, Alan

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#181614

On 6 Aug 2025 at 7:21:06 am BST, "Nige Danton" <nige.danton@nospam.com> wrote:

> I read books on my iphone and very occasionally on my MacBook. I’m logged
> in with Apple ID on both. Recently bought a book in the iphone and wanted
> to read it on the Mac. Opened Books on the Mac and could see the book (and
> others) but when I tried to open was informed my computer not authorized.
> 
> Went to account settings which showed me as logged in. Nevertheless clicked
> authorize this computer in usual way.
> 
> Did that (several times including rebooting the Mac) but it still tells me
> Mac not authorised.
> 
> Help please? What am I doing wrong?

Slight detour... Having left my Kobo somewhere, I'm stuck reading on my iPhne
12 Mini (not ideal, but...) One thing I've noticed is that usually when I
reopen the app to continue reading, I get the spinny thing in the middle of an
unresponsive screen, and it takes a few seconds for the app to become active.
Have you noticed this?
-- 
Cheers ... Mark

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