Merge apple id's, me.com and itunes account?

Hi there, recently solved this issue for myself. I ended up writing a step by step tutorial as I thought it may help others.Tutorial: Merge two AppleID/iCloud accounts (Apps and Notes)

It's actually pretty easy to do, just need a bit of thought. There really needs to be a mirgrate/merge function through appleID.

~ PK

I always thought that the Apple ID and MobileMe login were the same thing? I mean, when you go to MobileMe.com it says "Sign in with your Apple ID".

Hi, I tried this a few months ago and below is the response I received.

Hi Mikey,

My name is Johnny and I would first like to thank you for your amazing

patience as we're experiencing a slight delay, due to new and exciting

Apple releases and products!

I see from your email that you are wondering how to change your iTunes account ID to your MobileMe email. I appreciate your request and am more than happy to assist you with this matter today!

I'm sorry, but because you are already using "xxxxx@me.com" for your MobileMe ID, you can't use it for your existing iTunes Store account ID. It is also not possible to merge or convert your iTunes account with or to your MobileMe Account as both are two independent Apple IDs. Each Apple ID must be unique.

If you create a new iTunes Store account with the MobileMe ID as the account's email address, it will be separate from your current iTunes Store account. They will have separate purchase histories, and you won't be able to transfer purchases from one account to another.

However, you can certainly edit your iTunes Store account name so that it is similar to your new MobileMe name, and you can have the iTunes Store send all correspondence to your new MobileMe email address. To do those things, go to the My Apple ID page here:

http://appleid.apple.com

Log in using your current iTunes Store account name and password, and click Apple ID on the left. In the Apple ID field, you can enter a new name. If you want it to be like your new MobileMe ID, maybe you could enter that without the "@me.com." Here's an example:

Instead of the MobileMe email address: JoeBloggs@me.com

Try just the first part: JoeBloggs

Save your changes, then click Email on the left. Enter your new MobileMe email address (with the "@me.com") and save your changes.

Again, I'm sorry you can't merge two accounts, but I hope this solution helps. I want your iTunes Store experience to be as enjoyable as possible, so if you have any questions, concerns, or need any additional assistance with this matter, please don't hesitate to reply to this email.

Thank you for being a valued iTunes Store customer. I hope that I was able to fully assist you. If you require further assistance, please don't hesitate in replying. Please continue to enjoy all that the iTunes Store has to offer. Have a wonderful day, Mikey!

From what I have talked through with instant chat on here they won't merge accounts ever as they have to be unique and merging content/ID's/Store login id's would not work as they hold independent space on their database 😟 shame as it would make it a lot easier.

Sorry for resurrecting a dead thread but I think i have a reason for why Apple set up the AppleID system the way they did, i've only just thought of this now.

MobileMe was/is a paid service yes? and an AppleId is free but has to be the same as an active email address... So what would happen if you were to cancel your subscription to MobileMe?? Should you still be allowed to keep that @me.com address that you were paying Apple for??

Now that MobileMe is going away thanks to iCloud as it is the same service with better features (FOR FREE!!) I can see apple allowing you to use your iCloud @me.com address as an AppleId in the near future

The sad part is, because this can't be done, I'm making GOOGLE money by having to mainatian that email address. It would sure be nice to follow Apple's vision and have everything be Apple. Yet this can't be done. Seriously disappointing and seems to show a lack of vision.

I am wondering what will happen with this when iCloud goes live.

I've had an iTunes store account for much longer than an mobile.me one, and so when I signed up to mobile me I stuck to using my old Apple ID on the iTunes store.

So, when iCloud launches, to take advantage of cloud synching of iTunes content, I will want to use my old Apple ID for iCloud. Yet, iCloud will also offer free mobile.me email, which I will want to use, but will want to use my existing mobile.me email address, and not set up a new one.

I really hope Apple will offer some way to use my old Apple ID with my mobie.me email address, so I don't have to have two different iCloud logins.

Ideally they would offer a way to link multiple Apple IDs to a single iCloud account, as this would also help with users who use home sharing and have some content from family members. It might also help users who have accounts from different iTunes regions (though I serioiusly doubt Apple will ever officially support this).

What they really should have done is when people signed up to Mobile.me they should have allowed you at that point to use an existing Apple ID, rather than automatically creating a new one. Hopefully they will do this when iCloud launches, or they will have a lot of people with old Apple IDs they've used for years, and new Apple IDs set up for iCloud.

So you have MobileMe then??

Look through your inbox to find the email they sent to tell all MobileMe users that theie MobileMe subscription would be extended to June 30th 2012 for free, at this point the MobileMe service will be merged with iCloud, so you keep your current @me.com address

What i was suggesting is that once this happens and the @me.com address becomes free, they may allow it as an apple id and you (in theory) could use that @me.com address as your apple ID (Which you can't do at the moment

I am not an apple employee and do not claim to know any more than the average Apple Device user.

All i can do is speculate as to how the Apple ID/MobileMe/iCloud system might change in Spring/Autumn...Fall?? depending on which hemisphere you live in, Spring for me

Let us hope that Apple allows us to change to the login ID that we would perfer

That is what I was saying too. That once Mobile.me gets merged into iCloud it hopefully won't mean I end up with two iCloud accounts, one for my Apple ID I use for iTunes purchases, and one for my mobile.me Apple ID (which I just use for mobile.me).

I think this is wishful thinking though, and instead I'll either have to manage two iCloud accounts, or lose my existing mobile.me address.

If I was designing it, I would allow you to add any number of Apple IDs to an iCloud account, but I suspect that Apple will not do it that way (and may be prevented from doing so, in order to keep their music and TV industry friends onboard).

No actually, your @me.com address WILL become your iCloud address

iCloud addresses will be @me.com

You can also choose to merge the systems for yourself before June 30 2012

Apple went through all this in the email they sent Umm i'll try paste it on the bottom

Dear MobileMe member,

We'd like to share some exciting news with you about iCloud — Apple’s upcoming cloud service, which stores your content and wirelessly pushes it to your devices. iCloud integrates seamlessly with your apps, so everything happens automatically. Available this fall, iCloud is free for iOS 5 and OS X Lion users.

What does this mean for you as a MobileMe member?

When you sign up for iCloud, you'll be able to keep your MobileMe email address and move your mail, contacts, calendars, and bookmarks to the new service.

Your MobileMe subscription will be automatically extended through June 30, 2012, at no additional charge. After that date, MobileMe will no longer be available.

When iCloud becomes available this fall, we will provide more details and instructions on how to make the move. In the meantime, we encourage you to learn more about iCloud.

Sincerely,

The MobileMe Team

Yep, I know all that. I think where we are having a misunderstanding is that you perhaps don't understand the current situation, you say:

"What i was suggesting is that once this happens and the @me.com address becomes free, they may allow it as an apple id and you (in theory) could use that @me.com address as your apple ID (Which you can't do at the moment"

My understanding is that you can use your mobile.me address as an Apple ID at the moment. I can log into iTunes quite happily using my mobile.me address (well, I enter it, and it says "This Apple ID has not yet been used with the iTunes store. Please review your account information", and allows you to set up an iTunes account for that Apple ID).

The problem is not that you can't use a mobile.me email address as an Apple ID (when you set up a mobile.me account it automatically creates a new Apple ID with your mobile.me address), the problem is you can't change a pre-existing Apple ID to your @me.com address, because it is already assigned to a different Apple ID.

So, what I have are two Apple IDs, one for my mobile.me account and also my pre-existing one.

I know that when mobile.me merges into iCloud my mobile.me account will become an iCloud account, but all my iTunes purchase history is linked to my other Apple ID. So, will I have to continue having two Apple IDs (and iCloud accounts, and presumably @me.com addresses, if I get a free @me.com address with my non-mobile.me Apple ID when I set up an iCloud account for that) or will I be able to merge, or link, my mobile.me Apple ID with my older Apple ID.

Like you, I don't know what the answer will be, but I suspect it will, sadly, be a no, and I'll be stuck with the two Apple IDs.