Apple is celebrating the 15th anniversary of its popular music creation app GarageBand on Mac this upcoming Sunday, January 6.

garageband
Apple says GarageBand, introduced at Macworld 2004 by its late co-founder Steve Jobs and musician John Mayer, has grown to be the most widely used music app in the world and is now on over one billion iPhones, iPads, and Macs globally.

Apple provided a timeline of significant GarageBand milestones, including the releases of iPhone and iPad versions in 2011:

  • January 2004: GarageBand debuted at Macworld by Steve Jobs with John Mayer

  • April 2005: NIN release "The Hand That Feeds" as GarageBand project file that fans can remix

  • December 2005: T-Pain creates his first album,"Rappa Ternt Sanga" in GarageBand for Mac

  • March 2007: Rihanna "Umbrella" built with GarageBand bundled drum loop "Vintage Funk Kit 03"

  • March 2007: Fall Out Boy records "Thnks fr th Mmrs" in GarageBand for Mac

  • November 2007: Duran Duran releases GarageBand version of "Nite-Runner" that fans can remix

  • February 2008: Usher "Love in This Club" built with GarageBand bundled synth loop "Euro Hero Synth 02"

  • February 2008: Ting Tings record "Great DJ" on GarageBand for Mac

  • April 2008: Radiohead release "Nude" as GarageBand project file that fans can remix

  • 2008: "It Might Get Loud" documentary shows Edge from U2 using GarageBand on his laptop

  • 2009: Learn to Play and Artist Lessons announced on GarageBand for Mac

  • May 2009: St. Vincent creates "Actor" album in GarageBand

  • March 2011: GarageBand for iPad announced

  • November 2011: GarageBand for iPhone announced

  • October 2013: GarageBand 10 for Mac with new design announced

  • August 2014: Haim records "My Song 5" in GarageBand

  • June 2015: Marc Maron interviews President Obama in a podcast recorded in his garage using GarageBand for Mac

  • January 2016: Live Loops feature added to GarageBand for iOS

  • May 2016: GarageBand for Greater China announced with traditional Chinese instruments

  • April 2017: Steve Lacey produces the Kendrick Lamar song "PRIDE" using GarageBand for iOS

GarageBand is a free download on the Mac App Store and App Store for iOS devices.

Tag: GarageBand

Top Rated Comments

keysofanxiety Avatar
keysofanxiety
89 months ago
Me in 2004: Awesome! I'm going to use that all the time!
Me in 2019: Whoa... is that thing even still on my computer?
Genuine question: what's changed between then and now for you not want to use it? It's fast, stable, and has some really decent sounds.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Musocat Avatar
Musocat
89 months ago
GarageBand is what got me on to Macs. About a week before the announcement, I had bought one of those 4-track cassette recorders to make demos on. You know, the all-in-one decks where you could record a whopping 4 tracks... onto a cassette. lol. Anyway, when I heard about GB I checked out how much an iBook cost, and it wasn't much more than that 4-track cassette recorder cost. So I returned the 4-track and used the $ to get a 12" iBook G4, which came with GB. Typing this on a 13" MBP 15 years later :-)
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DocMultimedia Avatar
DocMultimedia
89 months ago
A pity they didn't feel like maintaining Aperture. In a mere two years they could have done the 15th anniversary for it.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Soba Avatar
Soba
89 months ago
15 years later, I still think this was one of Apple's most effective product introductions, ever. It's fun to watch even now. (We miss you, Steve!)

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
otozuz Avatar
otozuz
89 months ago
I remember watching the presentation keynote 15 years ago (streamed through the old QuickTime Player) with my dad when I was 17 year-old and being super excited by it. In the following years I then recorded probably 150 songs/ideas with my Fender Strato :):):) So much fun.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JimmyJimmyYam Avatar
JimmyJimmyYam
89 months ago
GarageBand is a truly awesome piece of software - there is nothing else like it (except of course, Logic Pro X, but GB is really Logic Pro X Lite these days). If you have aspirations to make music, it justifies the price of entry into the Mac ecosystem IMHO.

On the downside, it makes me worry what I will do when my 2015 MBP gives up the ghost - hopefully by then USB C audio interfaces will be plentiful, the emoji bar will be consigned to the dustbin of “interesting ideas that didn’t pan out”, and the design balance will have tipped back from thinness to power / versatility!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

Popular Stories

ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important. Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped. The new ...
Read Full Article • 59 comments
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year. Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
Read Full Article • 102 comments
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Read Full Article • 120 comments
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
Read Full Article • 62 comments
Apple Foldable Thumb

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Friday October 31, 2025 8:52 am PDT by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that have been leaked about Apple's foldable iPhone so far. Ove...
Read Full Article • 82 comments
Coffee Burgundy and Purple iPhone 18 Pro Mock 1

Leaker Outlines Potential New Colors for iPhone 18 Pro

Friday October 31, 2025 8:28 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models could be available in new rich and warm color option, according to a known leaker. The Weibo user known as "Instant Digital" today suggested that next-year's iPhone 18 Pro models will be available in at least one of the following color options: Coffee, purple, and burgundy. The iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Pro were all available in ...
Read Full Article • 134 comments
apple tv hd

Apple Launched Its Big New Vision for TV 10 Years Ago Today

Thursday October 30, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple launched the Apple TV HD, the Siri Remote, tvOS, and their accompanying App Store a decade ago today, marking a major overhaul of the device. The new vision for the Apple TV was unveiled on September 9, 2015 during Apple's "Hey Siri" event in San Francisco, where CEO Tim Cook introduced the device with the statement, "The future of TV is apps." The announcement represented a major...
Read Full Article • 88 comments
iOS 26

Apple This November: iOS 26.2 Beta, Rumored New Products, and More

Thursday October 30, 2025 12:42 pm PDT by
Tomorrow is Halloween, and then November is upon us. Below, we outline what to expect from Apple next month, as the slower holiday season approaches. Apple is expected to kick off November by releasing iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, tvOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1. With beta testing now wrapped up, the updates will likely be released this Monday, November 3 or Tuesday,...
Read Full Article • 18 comments
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
Read Full Article
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
Read Full Article • 162 comments