Merging Two Apple IDs For Use With iTunes

Ok so whilst I was trying to solve my MobileMe POP3 problems I then realised that actually, I probably want to have my MobileMe address as the one I use for iTunes etc.

Problem is, when you try changing your (in my case) Hotmail address to your Me.com address, you  get an error saying that the Me.com Apple ID is already in use. Which it is, by you.

Now you have two Apple IDs.

So, like any good geek, I tried merging two Apple IDs for use with my iTunes library but couldn’t. I didn’t want to use two IDs as there’s no way of syncing the two accounts – thus I’d not be able to transfer iPhone purchases between the two.

Boo.

So I stuck a call in to Apple, who kindly replied with this:

Dear Mark, Hi, my name is xxx, and I am happy to assist you in this matter. I’m glad to hear you recently got a MobileMe account, and I understand you’d like to use your new MobileMe account name as your iTunes Store account name.  I can certainly understand how eager you would be to have this resolved I’m sorry, but because you are already using “myname@me.com” for your MobileMe ID, you can’t use it for your existing iTunes Store account ID. It is also not possible to merge or convert your iTunes account with or to your MobileMe Account as both are two independent Apple IDs. Each Apple ID must be unique. If you create a new iTunes Store account with the MobileMe ID as the account’s email address, it will be separate from your current iTunes Store account. They will have separate purchase histories, and you won’t be able to transfer purchases from one account to another. However, you can certainly edit your iTunes Store account name so that it is similar to your new MobileMe name, and you can have the iTunes Store send all correspondence to your new MobileMe email address. To do those things, go to the Apple MyInfo page here: http://myinfo.apple.com Log in using your current iTunes Store account name and password, and click Apple ID on the left. In the Apple ID field, you can enter a new name. If you want it to be like your new MobileMe ID, maybe you could enter that without the “@me.com.” Here’s an example: Instead of the MobileMe email address: JoeBloggs@me.com Try just the first part: JoeBloggs Save your changes, then click Email on the left. Enter your new MobileMe email address (with the “@me.com”) and save your changes. Again, I’m sorry you can’t merge two accounts, but I hope this solution helps. I want your iTunes Store experience to be as enjoyable as possible, so if you have any questions, concerns, or need any additional assistance with this matter, please don’t hesitate to reply to this email. Thank you for being an iTunes Store customer. We appreciate your business. Sincerely, xxxx iTunes Store Customer Support

So, as Apple told me to – I tried it. And it worked.

Not quite merging two Apple IDs but near enough, nice work Apple, cheers!

Have you come across problems merging two Apple IDS and, if so, how have you solved the problem?