New GarageBand coming in August?

GarageBand '09 was released last year.
GarageBand '09 was released last year.

Users of Apple's iLife applications - currently iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb, iDVD and GarageBand - will have noted that they haven't received major updates since early in 2009, but the rumour is that we could be seeing iLife '11 as early as next month.

It's being suggested that Apple will skip the '10 suffix and move straight to an iLife that will see us through next year, with all applications becoming 64-bit. What's more, there's a growing belief that a new iLife app will make its debut, possibly replacing iDVD. What this will be, though, is anyone's guess.

Of course, the attraction for musicians is GarageBand. The '09 refresh brought a nice suite of guitar amps and Artist Lessons (remember them?), but the core of the application remained pretty much unchanged.

This being the case, hardcore users will be hopeful that a substantial update could be in the offing, though - as ever - Apple faces the dilemma of having to make GarageBand more capable without improving it so much that users won't feel the need to upgrade to one of its Logic DAWs.

The current rumour is that iLife '11 will be released on 17 August. If any further details leak out before then, we'll let you know.

(Via MacRumors)

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.