Can I create an @me.com email address and then change my current Apple ID to that @me.com name

The short answer is no. You can not change your Apple ID.

Apple is not issuing out anymore @me.com or @mac.com e-mail addresses. Mistakes that people are doing (as i am too) is thinking that I can create a new @me.com e-mail address when i sign up for iCloud but you really can't. You need ot use your current e-mail address, @me.com or not. Short answer is that they arent issuing out anymore e-mail addressess of that sence. So don't make the mistake I did, and think that you can make an @me.com e-mail. I tried using it, and signed up for an iCloud account, and now I cannot change it!!! 😟

you couldnt be more mistaken.

apple IS infact handing out free @me.com email adress' to everyone with an iphone/ipad/ipod/lion

the issue is the apple id system is not setup to change a primary apple id to a me.com email BECAUSE in the past mobileme was an apple id.

from apple.com

"When you set up iCloud, you get a free me.com email account. iCloud automatically pushes new email messages to all your devices, so your inbox is up to date everywhere you check it. And iCloud keeps all your folders in sync, no matter which device you’re using."

I'll second that. In fact, if you create your iCloud account from your old iTunes Apple ID and then go into the iCloud settings on your Mac and check Mail, you will be prompted to create a @me.com address.

That makes a lot of sence then! Thanks for the clarifacation 🙂 The only problem that I'm having now is signing into that MobleMe account that I created on my MacBook Pro with Lion OS. It keeps saying that its incorrect username/password when I know it's correct. I also cannot send e-mails from my @me.com account form mail because I keep getting an error message of:

"The server “p07-smtp.mail.me.com” cannot be contacted on the default ports."

I don't understand what's going on. Although I DO NOT own an iPhone yet, but it is being shipped at the moment. I'm not sure if that has to do with anything. Let me know your thoughts! Thanks 🙂

Correct. So until we can merge, I have one iCloud ID, and one iTunes ID.

That makes so much more sense then! On another note, when i try sending an e-mail from my @me.com account through Mail on my MacBook Pro, it decides it wants to send it through my G-mail account and not the @me.com account. What's up with that?

yeah, that guy is incorrect. I just got an @me.com email address today when I signed up for iCloud.

Just guessing, but I don't think it has anything to do with the phone shipping. I have two iPhone 4s , an iPad, 2 Apple TVs, and OSX Lion (all upgraded to the latest software). So, kind of the whole econsystem going, and everything is working except Mail. I converted my iTunes account (which was previously not an email address, but is now a Gmail email address) and then created the @me.com account as I described above. I get a similar error as above if I try to add the account to Mail on my Mac. Also, I get a "cannot load" error on the iCloud website if I try to launch Mail there, and any email I try to send to the new address gets bounced.

So, I'd love to hear if there is a solution, but this appears to be a significant system issue and I think all we can do is wait.

I love the "Waiting Games" when it comes to Apple fixing bugs in their systems... NOT. 😝 Hopefully they can get this all resolved and I see a lot of people all having similar (if not the same) issues. Please post anything if you figure anything out!

in theory you should be able to. you are always able to change your apple id to another unused email. and when you create that @me.com account, it isn't set up as an apple id since its tied to your icloud account, which is already an apple id.

wow apple really dug themselves a pretty deep hole... the icloud thing as a whole, something they made to help simplify things for customers, is confusing customers more than ever before..

See this discussion concerning your specific situation:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3377139

I also have this problem btw.

Basically it comes down to a bug in Apple's Apple ID system. Hopefully they will solve it.

Can I change my current apple ID (a hotmail account) for a new one and keep my @me address linked to the all account? For example I have an apple ID called jcd8690@hotmail.com and its has an icloud service actived and i create an account @me.com with that apple ID. Now i want to change the name of the apple ID, i now that i can do this, the problem is that I don´t want to loose my @me.com account? If this possible? If I change the apple ID (in the modify option) will I keep my @me.com account?

if you use your @me.com account for your apple id, you can change it to anything else. if you use any other email for your apple id you can do that too, but you can't use change your current (non me.com) apple id to your @me.com one because when you make an @me.com account, it automatically is an apple id.

i wish you could, i'd like to combine my icloud and mobileme accounts into one, but currently apple has no way of doing so.