iTunes

iTunes, Apple's digital entertainment platform

iTunes is the digital entertainment service developed by Apple that for years centralized the purchase, rental, and playback of music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and audiobooks. Its catalog and personal library have been progressively integrated into the Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Podcasts, and Apple Books apps, which maintain access to purchases, rentals, and imports previously made in iTunes.

Transition to Apple's dedicated apps

The most recent version of macOS comes with the new entertainment apps preinstalled, so your iTunes library transfers automatically to Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Podcasts, and Apple Books. In these environments, users keep the features they already used in iTunes, such as purchases and rentals from the iTunes Store, imports, and library management. iCloud syncs content across devices, and you can also back up, restore, and sync by connecting the device directly to your Mac.

Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple Podcasts on Mac

Apple Music is presented as the music streaming experience on Mac: it lets you explore a catalog of millions of songs, discover artists and playlists, download music to listen offline, and access your music library on all your devices. The Apple TV app brings together movies, TV shows, premium channels, and Apple TV+, with online or offline playback, the Watch Now tab, and the ability to pick up where you left off on any screen. On compatible Mac models, it supports 4K and Dolby Atmos content. Apple Podcasts offers more than 700,000 entertainment, comedy, news, and sports shows, with search by title, topic, guest, or host, subscription with new episode notifications, and the Listen Now tab to continue listening across devices.

iTunes for Windows

iTunes is still available for Windows through the Microsoft Store and via direct download. The 64-bit version is the one indicated for 64-bit editions of Windows, and there is a specific download for 32-bit Windows. The published technical requirements include a PC with a 1 GHz Intel or AMD processor with support for SSE2 and 512 MB of RAM; to play standard-definition video from the iTunes Store, an Intel Pentium D or faster processor, 512 MB of RAM, and a DirectX 9.0-compatible video card are required. For 720p HD video, an iTunes LP, or iTunes Extras, a 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or faster processor, 1 GB of RAM, and an Intel GMA X3000, ATI Radeon X1300, NVIDIA GeForce 6150 or better are required. For 1080p HD video, a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or faster processor, 2 GB of RAM, and an Intel GMA X4500HD, ATI Radeon HD 2400, or NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or better are required. A screen resolution of 1024x768 or greater is also indicated, expandable to 1280x800 for iTunes LP or iTunes Extras, a 16-bit sound card and speakers, an internet connection for Apple Music, the iTunes Store, and iTunes Extras, and an iTunes-compatible CD or DVD recorder to create audio CDs, MP3 CDs, or backup discs. Songs from the Apple Music catalog cannot be burned to a CD. In terms of software, Windows 10 and 400 MB of available disk space are required; some third-party visualizers may no longer be compatible with this version.

Purchases, rentals, and availability

The iTunes Store on iOS lets you buy and download songs, TV shows, movies, and podcasts. The availability of Apple Music, the iTunes Store, and iTunes Match may vary by country. The Apple Music trial requires sign-up and is available for new subscribers only, with the plan automatically renewing after the trial period ends. A subscription is required for the Apple Music service. 4K, 4K HDR, 4K Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and HDR10 content is available on all Mac models introduced in 2018 or later with 4K-resolution screens, and Dolby Atmos on Mac notebooks introduced in 2018 or later.

Support and previous versions

iTunes support handles inquiries about syncing, upgrading to more recent versions, and purchases from the iTunes Store, among other issues. Apple also offers downloads of earlier versions of iTunes for compatible operating systems and hardware.