How to Create a Ringtone for Your iPhone on Mac OS X?

Creating a ringtone for your iPhone using Mac OS X is quite simple, and there are many ways that you can go about doing so.

This article will walk you through how to create a ringtone for your iPhone using features available on Mac OS X.

Using Only iTunes

To start, open iTunes and install any necessary updates to the software. Now, choose the song that you would like to use, and block off the 30-second portion that you want to have as a ringtone.

Right-click on the song file, and head to Song Options:

Next, go to the Options tab:

Go to the Start and Stop fields, and input the start and stop times of the 30-second portion that you selected of your song:

When you’ve finished, click OK at the bottom of your screen:

Next, you’ll need to make an AAC version of your selected song. To do so, go to File > Convert > Create AAC version:

Copy onto your desktop the AAC file that will have appeared in your iTunes library. Once you have placed it there, modify the file extension from m4a to m4r. Confirm the changes that you have made in the window that pops up.

The last step thing that you’ll need to do is to add the file to your phone. To do so, head back to iTunes, and click the iPhone icon located near the top-left corner:

Next, in the Summary section, scroll to Options. Check the box corresponding to Manually manage music and videos:

Save your changes by clicking Done in the bottom-right corner:

Next, drag the .m4r file from your desktop into the Tones tab in the On My Device section. Doing this will automatically sync the ringtone with your iPhone:

Using QuickTime Player

Preparing Your Track Using iTunes

Open iTunes, and locate the 30-second song that you would like to use as a ringtone. Next, right-click on the file, then go to Song Info > File:

Here, check that the file kind is, in fact, AAC audio file:

Copy the AAC file in your iTunes library onto your desktop. Once you’ve placed it there, edit the file extension from m4a to m4r. Confirm the changes that you have made in the dialog box that pops up.

Using QuickTime Player

Open the copied file with QuickTime Player by right-clicking on it and clicking Open With …:

Go to Edit > Trim:

Using your mouse, drag the edges of the selection to choose the portion of the track to be used as ringtone (max. 29 seconds). Then, click Trim:

Go to File > Save, and uncheck the box next to Hide File Format:

Rename the file with using the .m4r extension, then import this file into iTunes. It will be automatically be recognized as a ringtone for iPhone.

Using GarageBand

Launch GarageBand, and choose Ringtone:

Next, import an audio file into the project from the Finder or from the Media Browser. You can also import a MIDI file from the Finder. et the cycle area to cover the part of the project you want to use for the ringtone. Alternatively, you can create the ringtone audio directly in the program.

When the project sounds how you want it to, set the cycle area to cover the part of the project that you want to use for the ringtone. This must be less than 40 seconds long. If it exceeds this length, GarageBand will shorten it automatically.

Select Share > Ringtone to iTunes to export the song as a ringtone to your iTunes library. There, you can sync it to your phone.