On a Mac and wondering how to get free ringtones for your iPhone? We all know you can purchase or create ringtones in iTunes but… they can be limited in functionality or selection. Luckily GarageBand, which is part of the the iLife suite, has the ability to create ringtones built right in.

The process isn’t too difficult and you can fine tune them however you like; including fade ins, fade outs, splicing sections together, and more.

After you choose the song you want to use, you’ll need to drag it into GarageBand. For iLife 11 users, you’ll need to do these steps first. If you’re using an older version of iLife, you can simply skip to the next section.

iLife 11 users, do this first

If you want to use a song that was purchased from iTunes (a .m4r file), GarageBand is picky about you dragging those in as of iLife 11, so you’ll need to change the format from .m4r to .mp3 before dragging it in.

1. Drag the file from iTunes you’d like to use for your ringtone to your desktop.
2. Change the extension from .m4r to .mp3
3. Finder will prompt you asking if you’re sure you want to change it. Click use .mp3
4. Now move on to the next section.

Making a ringtone

1. Drag your song into GarageBand, you should see something similar to above (if GarageBand opened a virtual keyboard, just x it out). I also go to the counter and change it to time instead of measures (located on the bottom). That’s up to you. It’s just personal preference.

2. Now expand the view by clicking the tiny scissor icon in the bottom left hand corner of GarageBand (it’s the third icon from the left in most versions of GarageBand.

3. The expanded view should look like the screen above. This view allows you to highlight and cut sections out as well as finer tune your selection.

4. Now comes the Apple loop part, next to your play/pause/forward controls to the right, you should see the button above. Click it and you will now see a yellow bar that you can adjust appear above your song in the top section of GarageBand.

5. Simply slide this bar back and forth to select the portion of the song you’d like to make a ringtone out of. You can increase and decrease the length by dragging it at the beginning or end as well. Just make sure it’s under 30 seconds total.

Those are all the steps to create your ringtone, the video also explains a few more options as far as fading in and out as well as cutting and splicing so be sure to check that out as well.

Import your ringtone into iTunes

Now all that’s left to do is to send the ringtone to iTunes.

1. At the top of GarageBand click Share.
2. Next select Send ringtone to iTunes
3. iTunes should pop open and import your ringtone automatically.
4. Now just sync your iPhone and the new ringtone and you’re done!

That’s all there is to it! You can create as many ringtones as you want this way without paying any additional money. If you run into issues, check out our TiPb forums for more help and suggestions!

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Apple generally holds an iPod and iTunes event, where they announce the new iPod family, every September. However, the rumors are pointing towards a mid-August event this year instead.

The MacMagazine today received information from a reliable source within Apple about a new event to the press that the company was planning to soon. Although the schedule cite the source as somewhere around 14 and 16, we bet our chips on a Monday or Tuesday – that is, 16 or August 17.

We’ve already seen evidence of a new iPod touch with a front facing camera for FaceTime and a new rear camera with flash. In addition to these expectations, the source claims that Apple will deliver information about iOS 4 for the iPad as well as release iLife ’11.

Apple has never discussed iLife during their fall iPod event, so why would they this year? Perhaps they will introduce a new music application to the suite that integrates with the iPod and iOS 4.

What do you think? Will we actually see an event in just a matter of weeks and what will be discussed? Sound off in the comments below!

[MacRumors]

Boy Genius has an unconfirmed source claiming that, as part of Apple’s rumored iLife 2010, long-ignored iDVD will finally see an update — and that update will be support for iTunes LP (and we’re assuming iTunes Extras) creation/authoring.

It certainly makes sense, not only to keep iDVD relevant (though would it need a name refresh as well?), but also since Apple recently made iTunes LP and iTunes Extra (and TuneKit) resources available to developers. A consumer/prosumer-friendly development environment, similar to GarageBand or iMovie, makes the kind of sense that does.

The Apple Stores have been nothing less than modern retail marvels. Picking the brains (and talent) of the best of the best behind the GAP and Target by Design, Apple has out-performed even Tiffany’s in revenue per square foot with their focus on customer service and lifestyle product layout.

But is all that about to change? Maybe, according to rumors. Not only will they be shifting focus to promote key Mac software like iLife 09 in an effort to lure in more and more “switchers”, Apple Insider says:

Apple has also changed its iPhone 3G and iPod touch displays to reflect the emphasis on software. The tables are arranged into categories of applications; including games, pleasure and travel, and others, with new acrylic information stands for each.

Apple’s never been shy to mess with past success if they think they can do better going forward. And, hey, anything good for the iPhone is fine by us, but what do you think?

Not only did Apple introduce a new version of their flagship iLife 09 (see our MASSIVE Live Blog!), Phil Schiller demonstrated an awesome new feature for iPhone and iPod touch users: direct export of slide shows to iTunes!

Along with some truly gorgeous templates and amazing transitions, the ability to make them mobile — so you can easily take them to show family and friends — is killer for iPhone and iPod touch owners.

iPhoto 09, and the rest of iLife including the equally tremendous upgrade to iMovie, ships in late January free on new Macs, $79 for a single user, $99 for a family pack.

MUST HAVE IT NOW!