Want IOS 5? You'll Need To Download ITunes 10.5 First

Apple has released the new iTunes, iTunes 10.5, to the public, just one day before the launch of its newest mobile operating system, iOS 5.

iTunes 10.5, available for download either from your iTunes desktop client by checking for an update in the Main Menu or at the Apple website right here, will apparently be required for iPhone, iPad and iPad Touch owners who want to sync their devices using the forthcoming iOS 5. Announced back in June, iOS 5 is scheduled for an October 12 release. iTunes 10.5 has come out now (on National Coming Out Day, no less!) to allow iDevice owners to prepare themselves and their gadgets for the newest Apple mobile operating system.

The key features of iTunes 10.5 concern access to music, movies and apps from multiple devices. Here are the big changes and additions, per Apple:

-iTunes Match: The "One More Thing" at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference in June 2011, iTunes Match is a new service that, for $25 per year, allows users to listen to songs in their iTunes library from up to 5 other devices. This includes songs acquired both through iTunes and through, um, various other avenues. As long as that song has a "match" in Apple's content library, it will be available for cloud-playing in high quality audio. For more details about iTunes Match, read our full write-up here.
-iTunes in the iCloud: Free to all users, songs that you did buy via iTunes (good for you!) will now automatically sync onto your various other iGadgets. So, when you purchase a song on your desktop, it will immediately also be downloaded onto your iPad, your iPhone, your iPod Touch, etc., if you so choose.
-WiFi syncing for iPods, iPads and iPhones. iTunes rival Spotify already allows users to sync their libraries over wireless internet, without the use of a USB cable; when introducing the Kindle Fire tablet, which will also sync wirelessly, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos mocked Apple's white USB cable and implied that they were behind the times. iTunes 10.5, however, will now allow iTunes users to sync content to their devices wirelessly.
-Access to previous purchases. Any media you've bought using your Apple account in the iTunes store will now be available to be downloaded anew on other devices, provided that the content still exists in iTunes.

In addition to these features, perhaps the most significant reason to upgrade to iTunes 10.5 is that it is required in order to sync a device running iOS 5. This new Apple mobile operating system, which lands October 12, will feature the new Android-like Notification Center, the BBM-like iMessage, the Windows Mango-like Twitter integration and the ability to edit photos within the Photos app, among other changes.

Another reason to update: According to PCMag, iTunes 10.5 will no longer force you into also downloading and upgrading QuickTime each time you update iTunes.

iTunes 10.5 is available for download now via the Apple website or the iTunes app on your desktop.

Comments

[Mister Grumpy]

10:37 PM on 10/12/2011

Yeah, but it still won't play flash. No sale.

[Estevan Benson]

12:59 PM on 10/13/2011

Flash sucks. Catch up. Newer technologies exist.

[Drama Llama]

05:44 PM on 10/12/2011

Aaaaaand the servers are overloaded by 20million people trying to update at once.. So no update for me right now

[Drama Llama]

05:05 PM on 10/12/2011

Downloading it now through Itunes

[The Dude67]

03:19 PM on 10/12/2011

iOS5 released today.  Here's what you need to do first:  Wait about 6 months until the beta is over.

[littlechanges]

04:08 PM on 10/12/2011

You obviously aren't a Mac or iPhone/iPod user. Apple updates its software all the time. Downloads aren't released prior to strenuous testing; they're also free.

Beta is for PC products.

[The Dude67]

04:47 PM on 10/12/2011

1/2 a dozen iPods, iPad, iPad 2, 2nd macbook - just got the 15.4 i7 quad core, nice and fast, macbook air, Time Capsule (2 TB), 1st gen appleTV.

First PC was purchased from a Home Brewer - 286 16 mhz, 2 megs RAM, 40MB hard drive - 5.25 AND 3.5 inch drives - monochrome monitor, serial bus mouse DOS 3.3. 

Yeah, fanboy, tell me something I don't know.

[Drama Llama]

05:42 PM on 10/12/2011

Amen!.. I am still recovering from the multitude of issues from the LION "BETA" I decided to put myself through when I downloaded it 10 minutes after it hit the app store

[jacobm4]

03:15 PM on 10/12/2011

Apple seems to have learned a very big lesson from George Lucas!

[bkerensa]

03:05 PM on 10/12/2011

I have had iOS 5 since late last night before it hit release... It was the final version too :)

[Robert Arrington III]

03:20 PM on 10/12/2011

Cool story bro.

[EnormeNuez]

03:31 PM on 10/12/2011

Did you get anything, win a prize?

[Rashomon]

02:56 PM on 10/12/2011

These updates come too fast. I just updated to the most recent iOS in May. Must I update again? Must I give them more money to make my devises work? Hopefully not.

[mississaugaman]

03:18 PM on 10/12/2011

Just how have these updates been costing you?

[Drama Llama]

05:43 PM on 10/12/2011

Ssssshhh! Don't you dare tell someone the updates are free. I have been selling them.

[Rashomon]

08:18 PM on 10/12/2011

Sorry, confused iOS with OSX Lion etc.

[EnormeNuez]

03:37 PM on 10/12/2011

May was 5 months ago, you do realise that, right? And this is Apple, so this update should not have come as a surprise.

[jsgaetano]

02:30 PM on 10/12/2011

Back up all your data and print it out. Apple has a glorious track record of their "updates" leaving a trail of bricked devices behind them.

[politicalgenius]

03:18 PM on 10/12/2011

I think you have iPhones confused with BlackBerries or the virus filled, crash-tastic Android devices.

[jsgaetano]

08:37 PM on 10/12/2011

Right... is the Apple "support" forum STILL censoring all the problems with OSX Leoptard? Oh, and is "jailbreak" still proving every day how non-existent security is on the iOS?

[TheIpsoFactory]

02:05 PM on 10/12/2011

I just hate seeing the Beatles used to promote an Apple product. I don't think any of them would approve of that. Can't you settle for Beyonce or Kanye West or some other flavor of the month, Apple...?

[jsgaetano]

02:31 PM on 10/12/2011

It's Apple's way of continuing to throw their violation of their legal settlement into the Beatle's face.

[llibsetag]

04:04 PM on 10/12/2011

Dude,The Beatles & Apple settled their differences many years ago. Plus, The Beatles agreed to have their entire digital catalog on iTunes which was never on there before. Apple is just PROMOTING The Beatles & their music as it is on iTunes, were on the main Apple web page & were on display in their Apple Retail stores for many months.

[TheIpsoFactory]

02:59 PM on 10/13/2011

I fail to see why the Beatles would need any promotion, and I doubt any of the surviving members have condoned it (if they still have anything to say about that matter). But I do see why Apple very much would like some of the Beatle magic to rub off on their brand. And hey - maybe it's just me, but I still dislike seeing Beatles used in connection with another product, and I cringe on those (fortunately rare) occasions when either their original music is used or a remake.

[cedy]

01:14 PM on 10/12/2011

Here we go, apple just let me in!

[RudyHaugeneder]

01:13 PM on 10/12/2011

The next toy/tool in mankind's evolution will be virtual reality glasses and/or virtual contact lenses that let you see whatever you want, whenever you want, including whatever you think nature is and was, 24-hours-a-day -- perhaps even while you sleep.
Virtual reality glasses and contact lenses are on the verge of replacing Nature, the iPad and its copycats, and even your job and spouse, allowing humankind to live in an almost permanent dream state.
When that happens the human world may gradually disappear and Nature will restore itself.

[Henk]

02:06 PM on 10/12/2011

This explains a lot. Tea Baggers must be doing beta testing on those glasses.

[PizzaGuy1]

03:35 PM on 10/12/2011

I was so going to say that. Nice one.

[Pucker]

01:12 PM on 10/12/2011

Nice features for ITunes, but nothing that the others aren't already doing. I'm amazed the IProducts have gone this long without Wifi sync.

IOS 5 is kind of a lame update, and, again, all stuff the others have been doing (and are still doing better). They need to overhaul the whole thing, because it's looking dated. It needs a rebuild soon, not just tweaks.

[HKR07]

01:47 PM on 10/12/2011

I know...Wifi sync, now, really? Old school for many of us contented Apple-free people.

[Turtle Heart]

01:11 PM on 10/12/2011

I am psyched for OS5, everything except the iTune part. I listen to a lot of obscure music, like American Indian music, that will never be available in iTune store, so I guess these songs will not work with the new feature. While I have purchased a few apps, I would NEVER buy a song from the iTune store, as I object to and loathe DRM music and video and refuse to have them at all. iTune is fundamentally a piece of trash, a terrible, stupid, very limited program, for all the changes it has brought...as code as a GUI it is really terrible. However, aside from iTunes the OS5 update seems a great new set of features we should all enjoy.

[HKR07]

01:48 PM on 10/12/2011

I hate I Tunes. Never, ever will use it.

[portabello]

02:02 PM on 10/12/2011

Apple dropped DRM from iTunes over two years ago.

http://gigaom.com/2009/01/06/why-apples-itunes-concessions-are-a-double-edged-sword/

[FuzzyBongo]

12:13 PM on 10/12/2011

I'm just drawn to the beautiful album cover and photo of George Harrison!

[Susan Bosworth]

12:18 PM on 10/12/2011

Did you watch the new Scorcese documentary on HBO yet? Its terrific.

[adamhide]

12:00 PM on 10/12/2011

Cloud computing, one click of a button, and all your stuff is bu-bye. Better to keep physical back-ups of everything, or someday you will own nothing. This is why I still like physical media, a server who knows where just can't take it. If you don't believe me, it's already happened many times, anyone remember the 1984/Kindle incident...didn't think so, you already forgot

[HappyBrit]

12:14 PM on 10/12/2011

Try Dropbox with backup option.

[solid]

12:29 PM on 10/12/2011

That's why I have a 2 Terabyte backup drive, but I see uses for iCloud as well.