MacRumors has learned that Apple is working on a process to merge multiple Apple IDs into a single login. The issue of juggling multiple Apple ID logins has been a minor inconvenience in the past, but with the early developer testing of iOS 5 and iCloud, users have found it to be a major issue.
TUAW described the problem back in July, and the answer at that time was that there was no way to consolidate Apple IDs:
Some readers have been managing two Apple IDs on purpose and are now frustrated about the fact that Apple is restricting logins for automatic downloads. Others have only just discovered that they have two IDs. Most of them have already contacted Apple, only to be given the same answer without exception: Apple will not consolidate Apple ID accounts.
MobileMe users especially have found that they now have at least two Apple IDs, their original one and their MobileMe account. Juggling multiple logins while using Apple's Automatic Downloads can be a particular chore since you can't easily switch between logins. Apple locks devices to a single Apple ID for 90 days, preventing any rapid switching between accounts.
Apple has provided no official guidance on the issue, except to state that Apple IDs can not be consolidated at this time.
MacRumors reader Robert emailed Apple CEO Tim Cook about the issue, and quickly received a phone call from an Apple executive relations employee. She had spoken to the team responsible for Apple IDs and acknowledged that they understood the issue and that more people would run into the problem with iCloud. She also repeated that there is no way yet to combine accounts but revealed they are working on it. In the meantime, she recommended picking a single account to plan on keeping indefinitely and to make all future purchases on that account.
Apple's Tim Cook has been particularly responsive to customer emails and inquiries. In a previous example, a user emailed Cook about iTunes Match availability in Canada. That user got a quick reply from Apple's Senior Vice President for Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue. Apple has announced it will be launching iCloud and iOS 5 to users "this fall".
Update: Another user reports hearing the same information after emailing Tim Cook over the same issue.
Monday December 15, 2025 3:05 pm PST by Juli Clover
Software from an iPhone prototype running an early build of iOS 26 leaked last week, giving us a glimpse at future Apple devices and iOS features. We recapped device codenames in our prior article, and now we have a list of some of the most notable feature flags that were found in the software code.
In some cases, it's obvious what the feature flags are referring to, while some are more...
Monday December 15, 2025 2:05 pm PST by Juli Clover
Last week, details about unreleased Apple devices and future iOS features were shared by Macworld. This week, we learned where the information came from, plus we have more findings from the leak.
As it turns out, an Apple prototype device running an early build of iOS 26 was sold, and the person who bought it shared the software. The OS has a version number of 23A5234w, and the first...
Monday December 15, 2025 4:23 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple is testing iOS 26.3, the next version of iOS 26 that will launch around January. Since iOS 26.3's testing is happening over the holidays, it is a smaller update with fewer features than we've seen in prior betas.
We've rounded up what's new so far, and we'll add to our list with subsequent betas if we come across any other features.
Transfer to Android
Apple is making it simpler...
Tuesday December 16, 2025 8:44 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with under-screen Face ID, and the front camera will be moved to the top-left corner of the screen, according to a new report from The Information's Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu.
As a result of these changes, the report said the iPhone 18 Pro models will not have a pill-shaped Dynamic Island cutout at the top of the screen....
Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28.
The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
The first foldable iPhone will feature a series of design and hardware firsts for Apple, according to details shared by the Weibo leaker known as Digital Chat Station.
According to a new post, via machine translation, Apple is developing what the leaker describes as a "wide foldable" device, a term used to refer to a horizontally oriented, book-style foldable with a large internal display....
Tuesday December 16, 2025 11:06 am PST by Joe Rossignol
We have been covering iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 17e, and iPhone Fold details from The Information's report about future iPhone models, and next up is the iPhone Air 2.
The report says that Apple aims to make the iPhone Air 2 more attractive in two ways.
First, Apple is apparently considering adding a second rear camera to the device, which would resolve a key limitation. The current iPhone...
Monday December 15, 2025 7:41 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the AirPods Max on December 15, 2020, meaning the over-ear headphones launched five years ago today. While the AirPods Max were updated with a USB-C port and new color options last year, followed by support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio this year, the headphones lack some of the features that have been introduced for newer generations of the regular AirPods and the ...
It is about time they sorted this out. Having to constantly switch between IDs, especially when doing something such as updating or downloading a free application, is very frustrating.
I'm glad they're working on this. It'll be useful for many people... and it's about time too!
EDIT - I wonder if they'd ever also set up a system where you could also have multiple accounts linked together... like an umbrella account with sub-accounts. I think it would be useful for families, where the spouses and kids would have separate but linked accounts... I don't know, I think that might be useful in some scenarios... maybe?
Not only should Apple absolutely support AppleID consolidation / merging, it shocks me that they haven't yet made such a feature available to customers who buy iTunes songs and movies, ultimately licensing those media files to that particular account forever.
Personally, I have a MobileMe account I use for everything except iTunes Store. I have a separate Apple ID for that and would LOVE to merge the two.
MacRumors has learned that Apple is working on a process to merge multiple Apple IDs into a single login. The issue of juggling multiple Apple ID logins has been a minor inconvenience in the past, but with the early developer testing of iOS 5 and iCloud, users have found it to be a major issue. 
