iPhone and iPad Users Seeing 'iTunes Store is Unable to Process Purchases' Error When Opening Apps - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iPhone and iPad Users Seeing 'iTunes Store is Unable to Process Purchases' Error When Opening Apps

"The iTunes Store is unable to process purchases at this time. Please try again later."

If you are receiving this error when opening third-party apps on an iPhone or iPad today, you are not alone. We've been alerted to the issue by several MacRumors readers, and there are many more complaints flowing in on Twitter.

itunes store unable to process purchases
The cause of the issue is not yet known. Apple's system status page does not currently reflect any issues with the iTunes Store or App Store, but the page is often delayed. We'll update this story as new information becomes available.

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple's Next Era Begins September 1

Thursday May 7, 2026 10:36 am PDT by
Apple recently announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down as CEO later this year, after 15 years of leading the company. Effective September 1, Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus will become the company's next CEO, while Cook will become executive chairman of Apple's board of directors. In his new role, Apple said Cook will assist with "certain aspects" of the company,...
Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching in September With These 10 New Features

Saturday May 9, 2026 6:03 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not launching until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component will be moved under the...
Apple Watch Series 10 Jet Black Touch ID

Apple Watch Series 12 and watchOS 27: What to Expect Later This Year

Friday May 8, 2026 2:07 pm PDT by
While not too much has been reported about the next Apple Watch models, there are a few rumors about potential design changes and watchOS 27 features. Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 models are expected to be released in September, and we have outlined some of the key rumored hardware and software changes below. A new Apple Watch SE is not expected this year, as that model was...

Top Rated Comments

adamw Avatar
86 months ago
Apple needs to hire better Quality Control/Assurance people who monitor and better test their software and online services/systems. I upgraded to Catalina yesterday and nothing but bugs and problems, as many others are reporting. Please Apple test and monitor your products and services better.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
86 months ago
What good is their silly status page if it doesn't show live issues?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
86 months ago

Apple needs to hire better Quality Control/Assurance people who monitor and better test their software and online services/systems. I upgraded to Catalina yesterday and nothing but bugs and problems, as many others are reporting. Please Apple test and monitor your products and services better.
Yeah, they probably never thought of that and this issue definitely confirms Apple doesn't do quality control.

You guys are absolutely hilarious.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
86 months ago

Apple needs to hire better Quality Control/Assurance people who monitor and better test their software and online services/systems. I upgraded to Catalina yesterday and nothing but bugs and problems, as many others are reporting. Please Apple test and monitor your products and services better.
Nope that's close but not it. You have to remember that Apple is now first and foremost a marketing company. They don't care one bit about whether the product is ready, useable, or bug free. Sure they would like to have that, but it's not required. They just release on the scheduled date, no matter what.

There is no one at the top that understands how to trade off quality for marketing deadlines. When engineering is not ready to release, its just another day at Apple. Under Jobs someone would be going home, under Cook its just we'll do another update later, the users are not that important.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
falainber Avatar
86 months ago

Yeah, they probably never thought of that and this issue definitely confirms Apple doesn't do quality control.

You guys are absolutely hilarious.
Of course they thought about it. Judging by the results, however, they probably did not do it.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mcrpanda Avatar
86 months ago
Apple Senior Advisor told me "This appears to be an ongoing issue and Apple is already aware of it. That being said, we would need to have this escalated to our Engineers. "

Attachment Image
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)