macOS Catalina (10.15) – What happens to iTunes' Library?

[fryke]

I haven't got access to a build yet, and a fear is starting to slowly kick in... I remember when Photos replace iPhoto, and macOS created a duplicate of the photo library, basically, so at least until the user cleans everything up, he or she needs enough disk space for two libraries. Not sure how Music, Apple TV etc. will handle the current iTunes Library when upgrading to 10.15...

My iTunes library is on an external 5 TB harddrive and is currently about 4.5 TB in size. I'm not planning on giving everything up, since I like all the movies, all the TV shows and the music I've accumulated over the decades.

From what Apple writes, it seems like the TV app is not even the place for movies and shows that you've added to your library yourself, but rather only for bought, rented and streamed videos.

Anyone have access to a Catalina build who can check what happens with an iTunes library when upgrading to Catalina?

 

[Cheryl]

My question is my device backups. I don't use iCloud for backups. I use iTunes on my computer. What happens now?

 

[fryke]

That one's a little easier. We know from the presentation that instead of iTunes, now the Finder will be responsible for synching your devices with the Mac. Worst case scenario here: It won't see your device's backup history and you're starting with new backups through the Finder. But basically, your iPhone, iPad etc. will simply show up in Finder windows instead of in iTunes, but the interface seems to be quite similar to before.