When using your Mac computer for work or taking it on the go, downloading Apple Music on Mac for offline listening is a great way to balance work and relaxation. However, these downloads are limited to the Apple Music app and will disappear if your subscription expires. To keep your downloads forever, a reliable Apple Music converter is essential.
In this guide, we'll show you how to download Apple Music to MacBook/iMac using the official app straightforwardly, or convert Apple Music to MP3 and facilitate a more restriction-free offline streaming experience on Mac without the official app with a powerful tool, TuneFab Apple Music Converter. Scroll down to check it out!
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1. Download Apple Music to Mac via the Official App
The most straightforward method to download Apple Music to Mac can surely be using the official Apple Music application. To prepare, you will need to activate an Apple Music subscription. Please make sure that you get every required thing ready:
- The latest macOS system and Apple Music app version (guarantee the best compatibility to prevent system bugs causing any streaming or downloading errors).
- Your Apple ID with the Apple Music subscription is activated.
- Sufficient storage space on your Mac in order to save music downloads (surely they will take up space).
When you get all of them ready, move on to the detailed guidance below to see how to download songs from Apple Music on Mac.
Add Songs to Playlists for Manual Download
The manual download option works very well if there are specific songs you want to download and listen to offline. Follow these quick steps to manually download Apple Music to Mac computers.
Step 1: Open the Apple Music app on your Mac. Search for the track you want to download or find your favorites on the "Listening Now" page.
Step 2: Click the + icon next to the song to add it to your Library. Repeat this process with all the songs you want to add to your "Library".
Step 3: Head over to your Library where you will find the added songs. Click on the download button next to each song. That's it! The downloads will be saved as cached files and you can enjoy them without limits.
Setup Apple Music for Automatic Download
By setting up the "Automatic Download" and adding songs to your Library, you can directly download Apple Music all at once with this feature. Here's how to set up Apple Music for "Automatic Download".
Step 1: Launch the Music app from the Dock on your Mac. Make it an active window then click "Music" at the top of the menu bar, and hit "Preferences" to open the settings.
Step 2: Under "Settings" select "General", to open a pop-up window where you will see the "Automatic Downloads" option. Click the small box next to the "Automatic Downloads" option to activate the feature.
Step 3: Finally, click "OK" to save your settings. Now, songs added to your "Library" will be automatically downloaded as cache files to your Mac.
Please note that you can access the music downloads in the Apple Music application for offline streaming on your Mac whenever you like. Nevertheless, you need to make sure that your Apple Music subscription will renew monthly, or all your downloads will be deleted. To keep them permanently or you want to convert Apple Music to MP3 for storing and playing outside the official app, please keep on reading and the next solution will help.
2. Download Apple Music to Mac via Music Converter
When Apple Music comes with download limits, for example, the in-app playback restriction, requirement for continuous subscription, and so forth, using TuneFab Apple Music Converter is the perfect solution to bypass all these obstacles.
It features a built-in web player for efficient downloading of your favorite Apple Music tracks, getting rid of Apple Music's DRM protection, allowing you to download songs in MP3, M4A, WAV, and FLAC formats for offline listening on Mac and other devices even without installing the official Apple Music application. With batch conversion at 35x faster speeds, you can download unlimited Apple Music songs effortlessly and enjoy hassle-free playback at lossless audio quality.
Key Features of TuneFab Apple Music Converter:
- Embed with Apple Music web player to access the full library.
- Batch-convert Apple Music to common formats e.g., MP3, FLAC, M4A, and WAV.
- Support ripping Apple Music songs/playlists/albums at a 35x faster speed.
- Preserve the highest music quality (up to 320kbps) of each Apple Music download.
- Retain original ID3 tags and metadata info for easier management.
Follow these super easy steps and learn how to download all Apple Music to the local drive on Mac.
Step 1: Launch TuneFab Apple Music Converter and select Apple Music to get started. You need to sign in to Apple Music with an available subscription to access the embedded web player.
Step 2: On the web player's interface, search for your desired songs/playlists/albums, and drag & drop them to the conversion list on the right-side panel.
Tip: Placing your cursor on the covers of Apple Music songs or albums and tapping the Add to the conversion list button can also add songs to the conversion list in batches effortlessly.
Step 3: Customize the output settings such as the bit rate and sample rate. You can also change the output format to MP3 or any other of your choice. Click the folder icon at the bottom to choose the location on your Mac where you want to save the songs.
Step 4: Click on "Convert All" to batch-convert all the Apple Music songs you want to download and convert. Once complete, you can get these local files on Mac for playing and using freely without any restriction.
Comparison of the 2 Methods
You may wonder which method is more appropriate to try if you want to download Apple Music to Mac. As the following chart has drawn a simple conclusion, refer to it and better sort out the rational method for yourself:
| Using Apple Music App | Using TuneFab Apple Music Converter | |
| Available Content | Single songs, albums, playlists, etc. | Single songs, albums, playlists, etc. |
| Download Format | M4P | MP3, M4A, FLAC, WAV |
| Audio Quality | 320Kbps | 320Kbps |
| Download Speed | Original speed | 35X faster |
| Apple Music Subscription Required | Yes | Yes |
| Keep Permanently | No (removed when subscription expires) | Yes |
| Best For | Those who want the direct method to download Apple Music songs without using third-party programs | Those who want to stream and keep Apple Music downloads more flexibly even after canceling Apple Music subscription |
Bonus Tip: Boost Efficiency and Organize Downloads Smartly
To help you have a smoother and more efficient Apple Music download experience and offline music library management, some small tips are gathered here for you to try. Walk through them and see if they can do you a favor:
- Save your time on music downloading: For those who have batches of Apple Music playlists to download offline, use the playlist drag-and-drop function to add all songs to download at once. You can prepare a playlist with all your favorite songs added in advance, and then drag the targeted playlist to download to save a lot of time without searching for them one by one.
- Archive Apple Music downloads by tags: TuneFab Apple Music Converter provides the automatic classification feature to archive music downloads by ID3 tags. You only need to preset the archiving rules in "Preferences", and all your Apple Music downloads will be put into different folders automatically, without forcing you to do it manually!
- Back up music downloads regularly: To prevent data loss someday, you can use some backup services like Google Drive, Cloud Drive, iCloud, etc. to save copies of your Apple Music downloads to avoid losing your favorite songs by accident.
FAQs About Downloading Apple Music on Mac
Q1: Can I Download Apple Music for Free?
Yes. If you are a new user, then you can get a 3-month Apple Music free trial, which allows Apple Music song downloads for offline listening without commitment. However, these downloads won't be available after the trial ends. To keep Apple Music downloads for unlimited offline listening, you can use Apple Music downloaders like TuneFab Apple Music Converter to download Apple Music to MP3 or other common files to save them forever.
Q2: Can I Transfer Apple Music to My MacBook?
Yes, you can. If you are an Apple Music subscriber, your music collections will be automatically synced across all your Apple devices, and you don't need to manually transfer the songs from one device to another. Simply use your Apple ID to log into your Apple Music on your MacBook, and you will find all your tracks in your Library.
Q3: How to Fix Apple Music Won't Download Songs on Mac?
When you discover that Apple Music won't download songs on Mac suddenly, don't be panic. Try signing out your account from iTunes (Account >> Sign Out) and then process the login again, your music library will be available. Now, try downloading songs again and you will find it work perfectly.
Q4: Where Are Apple Music Downloads Stored on Mac?
All Apple Music downloads will go to path: ~/Music/Music/Media/Music/
But it is noted that even if you can find the downloaded files in local folders, it doesn't mean that you can directly play them outside the Apple Music platform - DRM protection will always function to prevent this unless you have downloaded them in protection-free formats using TuneFab Apple Music Converter.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, it is much more effortlessly to download Apple Music to Mac with the official Music app. Nevertheless, downloaded Apple Music tracks using in this way limits your freedom of using your downloads.
If you are looking for a flexible choice, TuneFab Apple Music Converter is what you need. It lets you download Apple Music on Mac as DRM-free local files like MP3, allowing you to share it with friends, and transfer Apple Music to any device to keep forever even after your Apple Music subscription expires.
TuneFab Apple Music Converter
One click to download Apple Music to MAC without quality loss.
