Apple made a small change, but a notable update, to the process of users in changing their email addresses that are associated with their Apple ID.
Previously, Apple only allowed users to change their Apple ID email from one third-party provider to another. For example, users that have their Apple ID associated with a Yahoo! email address, can switch it to Gmail address and vice versa.
But they couldn’t, however, go from Gmail/Yahoo! to Apple's domain.
Apple is changing this, and has updated its "Change Your Apple ID" support to reflect the change.
It confirms that third-party email address can be changed to an @icloud.com, @me.com, or @mac.com email address.
Apple also outlines the steps users should do in order to make the switch. The company notes that they must first sign out of "every Apple service and device that uses your Apple ID" prior to changing the email address associated with their account.
From there, you can follow these steps:
iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
- Go to Settings > [your name] > Name, Phone Numbers, Email.
- Next to Reachable At, tap Edit, then delete your current Apple ID.
- Tap Continue. Enter the Apple ID that you want to use.
- Tap Next.
Using Your Apple ID account page
- Go to appleid.apple.com and sign in.
- In the Account section, click Edit.
- Under your Apple ID, click Change Apple ID.
- Enter the Apple ID that you want to use.
- Click Continue.
This is certainly a welcome change for all Apple users who have wanted to change their Apple ID addresses to an official Apple email address.
It's also useful for users that have been using Apple ID with third-party email addresses that have become defunct.
But Apple warns users that after switching from a third-party Apple ID email address to an email address ending in @icloud.com, @me.com, or @mac.com, there is no way for users to revert the change.
This is an important disclaimer because after they've switched to Apple's domain, they won't be able to change it back to a third-party email account.