It has been just over a month since Apple's last round of expansion for its iTunes Match service, but it appears that the company may be preparing to add Japan to the mix.
As noted by Mac Otakara, the "iTunes in the Cloud" music component has gone live in Japan, with the "Purchased" tab within the desktop iTunes Store and the iOS music application now allowing users to access their previously-purchased iTunes Store music. The iTunes in the Cloud service has until now been limited to apps and books in Japan.
Apple's iTunes Match service that allows users to match or upload their entire libraries of music acquired from any source to Apple's iCloud is a step further than the music re-download service just now rolling out. There are, however, currently no other countries in which Apple offers iTunes in the Cloud music capabilities without also offering iTunes Match. iTunes Match is currently available in 37 countries, and if iTunes in the Cloud music downloads are now appearing in Japan it seems that iTunes Match may not be far behind there.
Thursday September 25, 2025 1:11 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple is developing an all-new operating system codenamed "Charismatic," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Apple smart home hub concept based on rumors
This is likely Apple's long-rumored "homeOS" operating system.
In a report last month, Gurman said both Apple's rumored smart home hub in 2026 and tabletop robot in 2027 will run the new operating system. He said the software platform ...
Monday September 29, 2025 9:31 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple's annual iPhone event is in the rearview mirror, but rumors suggest the company plans to release a handful of additional products before the year ends.
Will there be another Apple event this October? We discuss the possibility below.
Apple in October
Apple's most recent October events were in 2021 and 2023.
In 2022 and 2024, Apple did not host an October event. Instead, it...
Sunday September 28, 2025 1:30 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions.
The account initially said iOS 26.0.1 would have a build number of 23A350, but they now expect the update to have a build number of 23A355. This suggests that the software update will include more bug fixes or changes than initially...
Sunday September 28, 2025 2:08 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple's next MacBook Pro models will enter mass production soon, according to the latest information shared by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said he continues to believe the new MacBook Pro models will be released at some point between late 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, meaning they should be available to order by March at the latest.
Apple often...
Monday September 29, 2025 10:12 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 26.0.1 and iPadOS 26.0.1, the first updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out earlier this week.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
According to Apple's release notes for the update, iOS 26.0.1 addresses a bug that could cause aberrations in...
Wednesday September 24, 2025 3:58 pm PDT by Juli Clover
With the iPhone 15 series, I did an experiment and kept my iPhone's Charge Limit set at 80 percent for an entire year. It provided an interesting look at the impact of charge limits on battery longevity, so I decided to repeat it for the iPhone 16 line.
Since September 2024, my iPhone 16 Pro Max has been limited to an 80 percent charge, with no cheating. As of today, my battery's maximum...
Friday September 26, 2025 9:01 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The website ChargerLAB has tested the standard iPhone 17 model's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W.
The device reached a peak charging speed of around 27W to 28W with these Apple chargers:29W USB-C Power Adapter
30W USB-C Power Adapter
35W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter
35W Dual USB-C Port Compact Power Adapter
40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max...
Monday September 29, 2025 6:21 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Pre-orders for LG's new UltraFine evo 6K display (model 32U990A) with Thunderbolt 5 support will begin on September 30, according to a major U.S. retailer listing.
LG first revealed the 32-inch display at CES 2025 in January, teasing its status as the first monitor to support Thunderbolt 5. At the time, LG only provided high-level specs, but left pricing, availability, and full technical...
Samsung Display president Lee Cheong has confirmed plans to make foldable smartphone displays for a major American company, which is widely believed to be Apple.
As reported in Chosun Biz, Cheong last week told journalists in Seoul that the company is accelerating preparations for mass production of OLED displays designed for foldable smartphones to be supplied to a "North American client."...
Friday September 26, 2025 12:51 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple's iPhone 17 models have been out for a week now, so we thought we'd do a longer-term review of the flagship iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max now that we've been able to spend more time with them.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has a Silver iPhone 17 Pro and a Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro Max, and despite a lot of concern over...
I think iTunes match is a joke. Doesn't do album covers perfectly, currently replaces explicit tracks with clean tracks...and with data caps, even less useful.
I'm as big an Apple fan as it gets, and unfortunately I have to agree with you.
I love iTunes Match for both what it is, and what its supposed to be, but Apple has done a terrible job of implementing it.
The fact that they're continuously rolling it out to new markets without fixing the problems it has, fills me with dread for their current leadership.
I don't want to get into the "if steve were here" nonsense.....but I don't understand how Apple, a company with such high standards, can be happy with iTunes Match as it is, and continue deployment without addressing very serious problems.
1. Album Artwork.
2. Explicit/Clean confusion (which is akin to data loss)
3. Inexplicable Matching errors, where certain Matchable tracks are uploaded instead.
4. Lack of support for AudioBooks.
Sure hope iTunes Match launches better over in Japan because the iTunes Match in the US is still buggy, matching explicit with clean lyrics never mind the disaster it leaves your iTunes library looking like.
I'm as big an Apple fan as it gets, and unfortunately I have to agree with you.
I love iTunes Match for both what it is, and what its supposed to be, but Apple has done a terrible job of implementing it.
The fact that they're continuously rolling it out to new markets without fixing the problems it has, fills me with dread for their current leadership.
I don't want to get into the "if steve were here" nonsense.....but I don't understand how Apple, a company with such high standards, can be happy with iTunes Match as it is, and continue deployment without addressing very serious problems.
1. Album Artwork.
2. Explicit/Clean confusion (which is akin to data loss)
3. Inexplicable Matching errors, where certain Matchable tracks are uploaded instead.
4. Lack of support for AudioBooks.
Agree strongly with 1 & 2. I hope they have a remedy for this. All my Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg is censored now!
I think iTunes match is a joke. Doesn't do album covers perfectly, currently replaces explicit tracks with clean tracks...and with data caps, even less useful.
