the itunes store is unable to process purchases at this time

I encountered this error message on an iphone 5C whilst trying to download an App from iCloud that I had previously installed.

These steps worked for me:

1. Go to Settings, click on your apple ID and then Sign out.
2. Go to the App Store App and try Download the problematic app.
3. You should get prompted to sign in with an existing AppleID or create a new one, log in as normal with your existing AppleID.
4. In my case I was then prompted with a message saying that the current version of the App is incompatible with my IOS Version and did I want to download the last compatible version for my device - I selected yes.
5. The App then downloaded - all good :)

Hopefully this will work for some users who are experiencing the same issue here.

There's a work around by using Itunes. If you try to download an update for an app that you have already installed you get the same message. However if choose another app not already installed this will download, and subsequently the download of the update of your already installed app works. After that you will have to put it on your device, but at least it works.

So definitely a MAJOR BUG in the app store.

Hello layal277,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. We see that you're receiving an error when trying to download from the iTunes Store. You've come to the right place! The steps in the following resource may help:

If you can't connect to the App Store, iTunes Store, or other Apple services

Let us know the results. Please include additional error messages and any other troubleshooting steps that you may have tried.

Have a great day!

On 9.3.5, It appears that signing out, DELETING the app or apps that need update, then downloading as if new (from the purchased list, signing back in) may work ...

Tedious, but success on 3 of 10 so far ...

then 2 app (Voice Recorder & Audio Editor; EOBD Util) gave the same old error ...

Then signed out again, this time those 2 apps downloaded on second or third try ...

Apps that have shown now "not compatible with this iPad" do not allow download.

Pretty poor system ...

i just had this happen to me too on my iPad mini 1 with 9.3.5. A few days ago, I updated an app like always. Starting last night, I got the 'unable to process' error message. I tried restarting, changing the wifi network (something that has solved iTunes issues in the past), logging out and in, using Purchased instead of search results for the app or the Update list. If I am logged out, it doesn't even prompt me to log in if I click to update. I already called Apple, and the tech new nothing, which doesn't surprise me since Apple doesn't seem to tell them anything either when they discontinue, have bugs, or make changes like this. I don't even get the prompt to tell me to update to 9.6.3 anymore on the device or on iTunes.

I believe that Apple cut off some older ios's in the last couple of days, and since they never fixed the bug on iTunes 12.6.5 to download apps (windows might still be working), the older devices are out of luck now. What a shame.

That method is NOT helpful for those of us with devices on iOS 9.3.5

Our error message is "the iTunes store is unable to process your request at this time. please try again later"

But later never comes.

Same whether signed in or not, whether from Purchased list or Updates list.

Strangely, I could download a NEW-to-me app.

This on iPad2 and iPodTouch5G.

What it boils down to is they NEED to do an update of OS. This has been going on for weeks for some people, for me it is almost a month. They need to get their act together, this is ridiculous. I haven't had an issue this bad for a couple of years.

This is complete and utter BS.

Just realized this is also happening on my Yosemite laptop too - same message as my older iPad mini: iTunes cannot process purchases at this time. Can't update, but can download an uninstalled app without a problem. My Sierra and Catalina ones are fine, though. They need to fix the bug.

I have this issue with updating books and have a call scheduled with Apple Support today. I think it is a bug or setting issue on Apple’s end. Have you tried removing the download of the book and reinstall? If you do that does the update go away?

Adding that something BS is going on. I have two 4S phones running 8.4.1 too. While none of these older devices can update their current apps - get that error message - they can all download new apps. That makes no sense, and clearly the itunes store is able to process purchases. I wish the techs actually knew what was going on or had suggested we try this while I was on the phone instead of just telling me the device was too old.

Completely agree utter BS. Nothing works for me. For the moment I am stuck with an Iphone that cannot be updated. Ios 9.3.6

This started some 2 weeks ago out of the blue.

This is simply a bug that Apple has introduces in it's app store. Some update and they forgot about the older versions.

Simply the strategy of squeezing out the older devices. I do not have the illusion Apple cares a tiny bit about it's customer, the only thing that count is pushing as many hardware on the market as possible.

My oldest son is also starting to realise that it's all about money, now that his crappy airpods with horrible sound quality have failed on the battery just over 2 years old.

I’m getting the same thing. I can purchase & install new books, even the books in the “Free” category but get this error every time I try to complete the book updates it is telling me that I need to do.

I have the same issue. I am trying to update a Macbook Air and get the “unable to process purchases at this time” message. I cannot update and I get messages from Safari that I need to update. It's a vicious circle.

I have had the problem for almost 2 weeks and Apple still haven't fix or try to fix the problem. Seriously thinking of deleting all the books from the app and getting them all from the kindle app instead.

Your problem being might be with books rather then apps, but the cause can be the same, and I expect it to be the same.

But the real problem is that Apple let customers waste there time on a forum, trying to find find work-arounds for problems Apple cause, rather then letting customers contact Apple and file their problem and let Apple help there customers.