Mac Mail Error on OSX El Capitan

[sparkie7]

Out of the blue my Mac Mail on my Mac Pro 2008 running El Capitan is not allowing incoming email with the following error....


"Account Error > ALERT: Unable to Connect

There may be a problem with the mail server or network. Verify the settings for account “iCloud” or try again.

The server returned the error: Connections to the server “p71-imap.mail.me.com” on the default ports timed out."


I have tried deleting my iCloud account and adding it back on. I know the password is correct as all the other icloud apps are working and updating eg. Notes for example

I have also tried shutting down, pulling out the power, turning back on with Option + Command + P + R to reset the PRAM. But still the same error. Any ideas how to fix this?

 

[James Regan]

Same exact problem here with a MacBook Pro 2009 on El Capitan. No problems on my iPhone 12 or on my Mac mini with High Sierra. No problems with my gmail, yahoo or work account.

I've seen this happen with another business account a few years ago after a server upgrade with just that account. My guess is that Apple has done a similar upgrade that El Cap and or older macs don't support.

 

[sparkie7]

Same exact problem here with a MacBook Pro 2009 on El Capitan. No problems on my iPhone 12 or on my Mac mini with High Sierra. No problems with my gmail, yahoo or work account.

I've seen this happen with another business account a few years ago after a server upgrade with just that account. My guess is that Apple has done a similar upgrade that El Cap and or older macs don't support.

Yes, my iPhone 11 Pro Max, and MacBook Pro 14,3 has no problems. Interestingly I have a IMAP email account in Mail that allows incoming emails! Bizarre.

Is this temporary, or is does this mean no way can run mac Mail on older systems?

 

[James Regan]

Is this temporary, or is does this mean no way can run mac Mail on older systems?

My opinion is that it's not going to be addressed. I'm sure if you got in touch with support they'd just ask if you can access mail throughs the iCloud safari browser, which still works fine, and say it's no longer a supported platform. Their way of selling new product. I'd be curious to see if the outlook mail reader works for mac.com mail. That was my work around for the previous problem I had with mac mail not working.

 

[sparkie7]

My opinion is that it's not going to be addressed. I'm sure if you got in touch with support they'd just ask if you can access mail throughs the iCloud safari browser, which still works fine, and say it's no longer a supported platform. Their way of selling new product. I'd be curious to see if the outlook mail reader works for mac.com mail. That was my work around for the previous problem I had with mac mail not working.

I can try in outlook. What would the outgoing server address be for iCloud accounts?

 

[James Regan]

I think these would be the settings

iCloud Mail server settings for other email client apps - Apple Support

Use these iCloud Mail server settings to manually set up your iCloud Mail account in an email client app.

support.apple.com

 

[James Regan]

I can try in outlook. What would the outgoing server address be for iCloud accounts?

I tried to set up Outlook with no luck. Tried auto setup and a manual setup with no luck.

 

[sparkie7]

I think these would be the settings

iCloud Mail server settings for other email client apps - Apple Support

Use these iCloud Mail server settings to manually set up your iCloud Mail account in an email client app.

support.apple.com

Thanks will give it a try in a day or two if this problem doesn't isn't resolved at Apple's end. If Apple want to shelve this then they should at least inform us so we know about it in advance rather than what seems like an ambush

 

[sparkie7]

I tried to set up Outlook with no luck. Tried auto setup and a manual setup with no luck.

I think there's an issue with Apple's servers. (But it's working fine on my newer Macs and iPhone). I'm hoping Apple have not abandoned mac mail for older OS users

 

[imnotthewalrus]

I also have a 2008 MBP 15 running El Capitan. Not running it now as I have a battery on order due this week. I’ll check back here when the battery comes. Hope they fix this, but I doubt Apple will support El Capitan. ”fortunately” it’s not my daily driver, but I keep it around for 32 Bit apps.

 

[martinerk0]

Just created account to post this, I installed Thunderbird from Mozilla (I wanted to use it few years ago but stuck to mail app). I too have El Captian.

If you want to use Thunderbird, you need to download older version:

https://download.mozilla.org/?product=thunderbird-78.13.0-SSL&os=osx&lang=en-US

And then generate APP-SPECIFIC PASSWORDS on your appleID.

How can I configure iCloud mail in Mozilla Thunderbird?

i just downloaded Thunderbird from Mozilla because it's the only program I can use to access my hosting email addresses in a easy way, but when I try to add my iCloud account, I get an error. Here...

apple.stackexchange.com

It's sad that apple is dropping support for older OS's, but 10 years is 10 years I guess...

 

[James Regan]

Just created account to post this, I installed Thunderbird from Mozilla (I wanted to use it few years ago but stuck to mail app). I too have El Captian.

If you want to use Thunderbird, you need to download older version:

https://download.mozilla.org/?product=thunderbird-78.13.0-SSL&os=osx&lang=en-US

And then generate APP-SPECIFIC PASSWORDS on your appleID.

How can I configure iCloud mail in Mozilla Thunderbird?

i just downloaded Thunderbird from Mozilla because it's the only program I can use to access my hosting email addresses in a easy way, but when I try to add my iCloud account, I get an error. Here...

apple.stackexchange.com

It's sad that apple is dropping support for older OS's, but 10 years is 10 years I guess...

There's an idea martinerk0 ! I think I'm just gonna rely on my iPhone and iMac for mac emails and use safari on the ole MB Pro if need be fore mac mail. I'm gonna keep an eye on this three regardless.

 

[DragonMac]

Same issue! El Cap 2 different Macs running 10.11.6 & Mail.app 9.3. p38-imap server

 

[wellwell]

Same issue here too. I use 2015 machines (iMac, Macbookpro) which is the last year El Capitan can be used - I have legacy software that doesn't work beyond El Cap. I may upgrade to High Sierra and use Parallels/El Cap for that software - though High Sierra is not now available from the App Store.
I wondered if there is an emal program that can avoid this problem - at least for another 10 years say - if this is anything to go by Apple will only support icloud email on High Sierra for another 3-4 years.

 

[retta283]

Same issue here too. I use 2015 machines (iMac, Macbookpro) which is the last year El Capitan can be used - I have legacy software that doesn't work beyond El Cap. I may upgrade to High Sierra and use Parallels/El Cap for that software - though High Sierra is not now available from the App Store.
I wondered if there is an emal program that can avoid this problem - at least for another 10 years say - if this is anything to go by Apple will only support icloud email on High Sierra for another 3-4 years.

You can still get High Sierra from Apple's website along with some other old versions here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683

You may also consider partitioning your startup drive and installing HS on the second partition so you don't lose performance running the software virtualized.

 

[imnotthewalrus]

Just created account to post this, I installed Thunderbird from Mozilla (I wanted to use it few years ago but stuck to mail app). I too have El Captian.

If you want to use Thunderbird, you need to download older version:

https://download.mozilla.org/?product=thunderbird-78.13.0-SSL&os=osx&lang=en-US

And then generate APP-SPECIFIC PASSWORDS on your appleID.

How can I configure iCloud mail in Mozilla Thunderbird?

i just downloaded Thunderbird from Mozilla because it's the only program I can use to access my hosting email addresses in a easy way, but when I try to add my iCloud account, I get an error. Here...

apple.stackexchange.com

It's sad that apple is dropping support for older OS's, but 10 years is 10 years I guess...

Thanks for the tip; that’s the way I might go.

 

[JohnDille]

Same thing happening here. Started yesterday? 08/30/21 perhaps the day before. We have 2 Mid 2010 iMacs and 1 Late 2012 Mac Mini. All 3 are running El Capitan 10.11.6. All 3 have their own accounts / identities. All 3 are now receiving similar error messages. "The server returned the error: Connections to the server “p71-imap.mail.me.com” on the default ports timed out." Using mail on iPhones and iPads work just fine.

Mid 2010 iMacs can only upgrade to El Capitan so I can't get newer OS on them. All 3 are running versions of various software that will not run beyond El Capitan.

The fact that so many of us are experiencing the same issue clearly indicates Apple changed something on their end that broke the ability for El Capitan Mac Mail clients to connect. Only time will tell if this is permanent.

 

[rpmurray]

I don't get within a mile of Apple's cloud having been burned before. I'm running El Cap on a 2011 iMac 27" and Apple mail, for the past few months, has been refusing to connect to my provider. It won't accept my password, but the same account credentials work through webmail so not sure what's going on.

 

[jhepburn]

Out of the blue my Mac Mail on my Mac Pro 2008 running El Capitan is not allowing incoming email with the following error....


"Account Error > ALERT: Unable to Connect

There may be a problem with the mail server or network. Verify the settings for account “iCloud” or try again.

The server returned the error: Connections to the server “p71-imap.mail.me.com” on the default ports timed out."


I have tried deleting my iCloud account and adding it back on. I know the password is correct as all the other icloud apps are working and updating eg. Notes for example

I have also tried shutting down, pulling out the power, turning back on with Option + Command + P + R to reset the PRAM. But still the same error. Any ideas how to fix this?

Same problem here. Spent hours trying to figure it out. Have early mac pro 2008 El Capitan . Runs great now this message:The server returned the error: Connections to the server “p49-imap.mail.me.com” on the default ports timed out. Hopefully they don't abandon us. So many creatives having to go to PC's with the cost of new Mac's being so high.

 

[wellwell]

You can still get High Sierra from Apple's website along with some other old versions here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683

You may also consider partitioning your startup drive and installing HS on the second partition so you don't lose performance running the software virtualized.

Thanks for the suggestions - the HS link wanted to go through the app store and HS doesn't exist there. Better luck with Sierra which downloaded an InstallOS.pkg file - I will keep trying for HS - I believe that's the last one before I lose all my Contacts info by upgrading. I plan to forward all my emails from my iphone to my gmail account (which works fine on Mail) until I can get a workable solution.

 

[PeterO]

Chalk me up with the same problem. It started a day ago for me. I'm running 10.11.6 El Capitan on a 2009 MBP and the Mail Connection Doctor in the Mail app reports that it can't connect to iCloud's IMAP server (time-out error). Other newer devices polling the same iCloud account are fine.

If this is a server upgrade bug, then fine. Problems happen.
If this is a planned obsolescence directive targeting older systems that otherwise remain compliant with email standards, then I have choice words for Apple...

 

[RLRL]

Me too on both of our El Capitan Mac's that still work perfectly. I hate Apple they abuse their customers. They don't have to support El Capitan or any older OS's but to not allow a user to put his email into their mail app, crazy. Problem is my wife is addicted to IOS devices. I will probably never buy another apple product. Goggle and Android fit my needs. Too bad, I spent hours yesterday trying to fix this. Apple Support, Apple Care was useless, wasted my time. Who would pay for level of support. Anyway, really irritates me.

 

[Monstergerm]

I have the same issue on Mac Pro 2008 with OS X 10.11.6 since yesterday 8/30/21. Very disappointed that Apple had to screw around with something basic like accessing an IMAP server. Apple Support thinks the computer and OS is too old. Everyone make sure to leave feedback.
bugreport.apple.com
www.apple.com/feedback

 

[Monstergerm]

I don't get within a mile of Apple's cloud having been burned before. I'm running El Cap on a 2011 iMac 27" and Apple mail, for the past few months, has been refusing to connect to my provider. It won't accept my password, but the same account credentials work through webmail so not sure what's going on.

Regarding your issue with password credentials. I ran into a similar problem with Spectrum email. The standard Safari-generated password with dashes works fine with webmail, but does not work accessing the account from Apple Mail and I believe iOS devices. Once I generated a password without dashes it worked fine on all platforms and apps.

 

[Izod63]

Same here. El Capitan 10.11.6 on 2008 iMac. Started 8/30 afternoon EDT. Mail works fine via newer devices and web interface. Was waiting for 2022 tax year to replace. Unfortunate because with SSD. the dam things works quickly for all the basics.