Garageband and the other iLife applications are now included for free with all brand new iPads and iPhones. If you purchased Garageband in the past, then you will have to open up the App Store and tap the "Purchased" tab to see a list of your previously purchased content. From this tab, you will be able to download the version of Garageband you last purchased.
The most recent release of Garageband includes a substantial amount of new content, and features, that greatly exceeded what might be found in a typical update. As such, Apple launched the latest release as a separate, but optional, purchase. Previously, Apple offered Garageband as a free app that required an in-app purchase to access more loops and content. Now, there are no more in-app-purchases for all of the new content and features, but the user must now pay an upfront cost of $4.99 if they wish to use the latest version of Garageband.
If you do opt to purchase the new release, you will find a myriad of new features. There are hundreds of new loops as well as a an improved smart drum feature, now known as "Drummer". The Drummer feature creates natural sounding drum patterns that are customized to how you play your lead instrument, and the style of the drummer that you choose. The nominal $4.99 price point is an excellent value proposition when considering the number of features and the price of competing digital audio workstations.
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