At Apple’s WWDC 2019 keynote event, the company announced macOS Catalina and that it is breaking apart iTunes into separate applications—after 18 years. This left a lot of folks in fear of losing access to this essential media application.

Well, that’s not quite the case for any Mac not running Catalina nor for Windows PCs. Read on for more…

The Big Breakup

Separating iTunes into multiple apps is nothing new. Apple started this on iOS years ago with the Music, TV, and Podcasts apps. When macOS Catalina arrives this fall, it will likewise feature these same apps and will relegate device syncing and management to the Finder.

If and when you upgrade, the migration and segregation of your media library into these separate buckets should be even easier than the transition from iPhoto to Photos. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.

The Rest of Us

Just because iTunes is going away in macOS Catalina, doesn’t mean it will disappear for everyone else. If you don’t upgrade to Catalina right away (which I don’t recommend anyway), or if your Mac doesn’t support it, you will probably retain iTunes for years to come.

To be sure, the iTunes brand is not going away universally. It’s just transitioning out by way of a new software version. Meanwhile, Apple hasn’t shared any intention to kill iTunes for Windows.

How to Prepare

There’s probably nothing you need to do to prepare for this change of affairs. iPhoto and Photos use special file bundles that contain your pictures and various database files. Fortunately, iTunes media are standalone files that you can organize as you wish, paired with a single database file.

I expect that Apple will have a seamless method of migrating database info to separate files for Music, TV, and Podcasts. On Macs where users have chosen to let iTunes keep their media organized, it will simply break apart these folders for each new app library.

So, no notable concerns here. Keep using iTunes until kingdom come or until there’s an alternative. Apple will take care of you either way.