iTunes should retire after more than 18 years

While it was originally announced that iTunes would live in macOS 10.15, it now appears that the application will be withdrawn, more than 18 years after its introduction by the late Steve Jobs at Macworld on January 9, 2001.

Apple will replace iTunes with stand-alone applications for music, television and podcasts in the next major release of macOS, which is expected to be unveiled at WWDC 2019 next week, the source said. BloombergThat's Mark Gurman.

This information is consistent with a recent report by 9to5MacGuilherme Rambo, who claimed that iTunes would be renamed "Music" on Mac. In other words, iTunes will disappear and will be replaced by the new Music application, which should become the new utility for synchronization and management of Apple devices.

Steve Jobs quotes an Apple press release regarding iTunes in 2001:

Apple has done what Apple does best: simplify complex applications and make them even more powerful. iTunes has a head start on all other jukebox apps, and we hope that its extremely simplified user interface will bring even more people to the digital music revolution.

Here's what iTunes looked like in 2001:

iTunes has attracted a lot of criticism over the years for being an inflated software. As a result, its division into applications dedicated to music, television and podcasts will be much appreciated. Earlier this week, snapshots provided us with a first glimpse of what Music and TV apps should look like on macOS 10.15.

Apple should announce iOS 13, macOS 10.15, watchOS 6 and tvOS 13 at his WWDC 2019 opening remarks Monday at 10 am Pacific Time. MacRumors will cover the event live on our website and through MacRumorsLive on Twitter, so follow the latest updates.