Apple Celebrates 15th Anniversary of GarageBand This Sunday - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple Celebrates 15th Anniversary of GarageBand This Sunday

by

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
99 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
99 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
99 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
99 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
99 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)
Roscorito Avatar
Roscorito
99 months ago
GB is really Logic Pro X Lite these days
It always was Logic lite; Apple acquired Logic in 2002, released GarageBand in 2004. Same code base.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple Working on All-New Operating System

Wednesday July 29, 2026 11:39 am PDT by
Apple is developing an all-new operating system that is essentially a mix of tvOS, watchOS, and iOS, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In a report this week, he said the operating system will feature a grid of icons, widgets, and apps, along with customizable clock faces. The new software platform is intended for Apple's long-rumored smart home hub. With built-in facial recognition,...
Read Full Article
imac video apple feature

Apple Made Its Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever This Year

Wednesday July 29, 2026 12:03 pm PDT by
Apple this year acquired Israeli startup Q.ai for close to $2 billion, according to the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone maker Beats in 2014. This is also the largest known Apple acquisition since the company purchased Intel's smartphone modem business and patents for $1 billion in 2019. Q.ai...
Read Full Article
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

iPhone 18 Pro: Twelve Changes Coming to Apple's Next Flagship

Thursday July 30, 2026 3:43 am PDT by
We're less than two months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a dramatic change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year,...
Read Full Article • 31 comments

🔗 Related Apple News & Rumors

Stay updated with the latest Apple ecosystem news and verified rumors