Can I merge 2 Apple IDs?

I was told from Apple that the reason you can't break up or merge Apple ID's is because it would allow exploits around the DRM scheme. The media publishers would be all up in arms about it.

Yes, I'm sure that's their biggest issue, however replacing a non me.com iCloud Apple ID with it's own me.com address, specifically created for it as an alternate ID, would not be merging Apple ID's (iClouds). If you go to https://appleid.apple.com/ and sign in, you will see what the alternate me.com email address is for your non me.com Apple ID... if you hve created one for it yet.

Just to be clear... a non me.com Apple ID is it's own iCloud, and it's me.com alternate email address is utalized by that same cloud for the purposes of mail specifically, but also for iMessage, Calandar, etc if you sign into them using it.

Let me also add this thought.

Apple never should have encouraged people with non me.com iTunes Apple ID's to convert their MobileMe accounts to iCloud accounts.

I have completely abandoned my former MobileMe account since the time I realized that Apple could not use it to take over my iTunes account. Above all, I do not want two different iClouds since I would then have two calandars, contacts, etc.

When you sign into icloud.com with your non me.com iTunes Apple ID and turn on mail, you should be prompted to create an me.com address to use with that iCloud account. It will have the same password as your iTunes Apple ID and will be referred to as your Apple ID's Alternate email address(at appleid.apple.com). I find it best to use that Alternate me.com address for everything iCloud except iTunes Store and Music Match which, of course, must have your iTunes Apple ID's primary email address.

To get you contacts and appointments from your old me.com address into your empty iTunes Apple ID's iCloud, simply sign out of your MobileMe on your computer choosing to keep contacts and appointments, and then sign in to your iTunes Apple ID's iCloud and choose to merge contacts and calandar. Note: Keep this in mind whenever merging. Merging something with nothing equals something good. Merging something with something else equals a mess.

Found this article. Looks like Apple has been working on this for a while.

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/09/apple-icloud-sync-mess/

Yea. I've seen that article too. Notice that it warns people to make all purchases from one Apple ID. At this point each Apple ID is it's own complete iCloud capible of signing into iTunes and making purchases. It appears that the people who have made purchases on more than one iCloud are up a creek for now since they can only have iTunes signed into one iCloud at a time.

Apple's solution may lie in it's new OS "Mountain Lion" (releasing this Summer) which is set to enable us to sign in with our iTunes Apple ID and have everything automatically set up on all devices. I'm really hoping that Apple will enable iCloud account merging by then. One thing is for sure, MobileMe will be completely out of the way by then since Apple will eliminate all MobileMe accounts in June which have not by then been converted to iCloud.

Apple could be waiting to implement any solution until MobileMe is completely out of the way anyway.

The whole thing is quite frustrating, mostly because there are so many services going on.. iTunes, iCloud, Me, iMessage, blah blah blah..

Forever I had my iTunes username and password, that was my work email address, and then another account for apple.com that I used for these discussions, and then me came out and I got an @me email address, and then iCloud, and I used a diffrent email address again.. and then I wanted to use another email address for iMessager (my person email..).

finally I managed to get one apple ID with my 4 main email addresses associated to the one ID (work, personal, an old one from 99 and another old personal one).. but I still have an old iTunes account that I've been using for 3 years that has all my purchases associated to it.. long story short, it's a huge mess... I really wish we could consolodate all email addresses and apple IDs into one account, it's so annoying!

j.

I would like to throw my voice in here that this needs resolution asap. I have multiple apps bought with different accounts.

This is a bit of a workaround applicable if you have a gmail address, and I don't know if it addresses your particular issue (you will still have two Apple IDs), but here is what I did:

I have a "Purchases" Apple ID that I use for itunes/app store which has been linked/verified to a gmail account. Call it xyz@gmail.com.

I also have an "iCloud" me.com Apple ID that I use for personal stuff such as calendar/mail/messages/bookmarks. Call it xyz@me.com.

When I tried to add the xyz@gmail email to the xyz@me.com apple ID, I was unable to do so because it was linked to the xyz@gmail Apple ID. The reason I wanted the two "linked" is so that people could send me imessages to my phone number, xyz@me, and xyz@gmail email addresses.

To work around this issue, I just changed my "purchases" apple ID from xyz@gmail.com to xyz+apple@gmail.com by logging into the xyz@gmail Apple ID account and changing my primary email to xyz+apple@gmail.com. The "+apple" portion kind of works like an alias - an email sent to xyz+apple@gmail.com will be delivered to xyz@gmail.com just as before, but Apple sees it as a different email address.

This now "freed up" the xyz@gmail email address so I could add it to my xyz@me.com Apple ID to use in imessages.

Not ideal, but it works for me. I also don't mind having separate apple IDs for purchases vs personal stuff on iCloud.

Am I the only one that is more than a little upset by all this? People here sounds very forgiving of Apple.

As a PC user all my life, I've just made the conversion to my first MacBook Pro and WAS loving it until I experienced this issue around simply syncing my Notes to my Mail from my iPhone. The $300 AppleCare was worthless for this as they just keep transferring me to the iPhone people who tell that I don't have support on my iPhone so they can't help.

Then, they tell me to lug everything to the Genius bar and they'll be happy to schedule an appointment for me, and from these forums it seems the "Geniuses" are none the wiser. I know a lot about computers, and this makes me feel like a moron for plunking down so much money for a pretty laptop.

I guess nobody at Apple cares as long as they are increasing their market share, but I sure wish people would stop saying that "Macs just work" when that is not always the case.

I can agree that you will find a lot of people who are 'forgiving' of Apple on these forums, and not all of them work for, or have worked for Apple. As someone who has more Apple ID's then fingers on one hand - I completely understand the issues at hand. With the forced conversion from mobile.me to iCloud people like me, who have an old xyz@mac.com address that was moved over to mobile.me will loose the ability to recieve mail at the mac.com domain, adding further complexity.

To be fair to Apple, and the concept of "Macs just work" I still believe that to be generally true, Macs do, overall work with less hassle, more stability and far fewer Hardware and Operating system issues (not to mention Hardware VS. Operating system issues. The period of utility for the hardware and length one can use the MacOS for without having to reinstall the operating system due to the corruption of some master database that oversees the entire computers functionality is longer then anything I experience in the other camp. The Apple ID, its ability to be consolidated, merged or migrated has nothing to do with "Macs Working" and everything to do with the underlying systems of the app store, the music store, the web services (.mac / mobile.me / iCloud) and the interoperability that exists now, but was not planned for in the past.

I completely dismiss the complaint that the issue is DRM related as being an invalid and absurde attempt at mollifying or delaying the resolution of this issue, as the music apple sells now is DRM free. If I download a song that i purchsed in the past, that song is DRM free, so why would the DRM on those songs prior to the DRM free days be an issue.

The reality is - Apple needs to take this issue seriously! Despite some of the most creative ads out there, the real inertia expanding the apple market share is the cult-like community of users who have experienced the ease and elligance of apples product - and told others.

According to their website, no.

http://www.apple.com/mobileme/transition.html

If I use different accounts for iTunes and MobileMe, can I merge them into a single account and use it with iCloud?

No. You cannot merge two accounts into one. However, you will be able to move your MobileMe account (yourname@me.com) to iCloud and, if you choose, you can continue to use a different iTunes account for store purchases and iTunes in the Cloud.

I just upgraded in iPhone 4S at the Apple Store. A helpful representative told me to go to iPhone Settings, the go to Store and sign-in with my mobleME account as the Apple ID.

Next, go to iPhone Setttings, iCloud, and sign in using the mobile ME account.

Then go back to settings for store, and delete the Apple ID. The sign-in to store with your iTunes store Apple ID.

No you can use iCloud for contacts, calendar, find my iPhone, photo streaming, notes and any storage you may have on your mobile ME acccount.

Purchases you make from your phone will be on your iTunes Apple ID and you can update apps from your phone or your computer.

This works, but still not the optimal solution

I have had this issue, and only until now have I accepted it. Until now... I just (for no apparent reason) attempted to alter my Apple ID that I use inside of iTunes for purchases (an unrelated email address to Apple), to my iCloud email address, to another iCloud email, all while retaining all the purchases I had made with my original Apple ID when I had altered the ID. I can now effectively use the email address of my preference to purchase new content from Apple while retaining all prior purchases I had made with a seperate account. Is this the answer we have all searched for to no avail? I know it's my answer, and I wished to share this with everyone that had previously encountered this issue, for I have not read of any others that had experienced my success.

FYI. That page is now: http://www.apple.com/mobileme/transition.html