Apple SMS VERIFICATION Receive the Apple code on a rented number.

A new Apple ID cannot be created without a phone number. Two-factor authentication is mandatory on new accounts, and Apple requires at least one trusted phone number to receive the six-digit codes, by SMS or by automated call. The trusted number is also how Apple recovers the account, so the number you give it carries more weight than on most services.

The honest way to use a rented number here is as the number for creation, followed immediately by adding a trusted device or a second trusted number you keep. Apple lets you have several trusted numbers, and once a device you own is trusted, codes go to it and the original number can be removed. Do that on the day the ID is created.

How trusted numbers work on an Apple ID

Apple sends two-factor codes to trusted devices first, and to trusted phone numbers when no device is available. A brand-new Apple ID has no trusted device yet, so the number you enter at creation receives the first code by SMS or call. As soon as you sign in on an iPhone, iPad or Mac, that device becomes trusted and takes over.

Under Settings, your name, Sign-In and Security, Two-Factor Authentication, you can add a second trusted number and remove the first. An Apple ID must always keep at least one trusted number, so add the one you keep before removing the rented one.

Why people create a separate Apple ID

A developer account for testing, an Apple ID for a family member's device, a business ID kept apart from a personal one, or an ID for a specific App Store storefront. Storefront follows the account's country and payment method rather than the phone number, so the number's job here is the two-factor requirement, not region.

Apple refuses VoIP ranges and free-site numbers for trusted numbers, since a trusted number can recover the account. The numbers here come from real mobile carrier ranges, which is what Apple's check requires.

Do not leave the rented number as the only trusted one

If the rented number is the sole trusted number and you have no trusted device signed in, Apple's account recovery routes through that number, and recovery can take days even when you can prove ownership. Sign in on a device you own on creation day, or add a trusted number you keep, and the rented number becomes irrelevant.

Recovery keys and account recovery contacts are available under Sign-In and Security. Set one of them and the account is protected independently of any phone number.