Apple - Apple ID - Want to make my [email protected] primary Apple ID?

This problem still exists to this day. When you set up your Apple ID you are required to enter an already in-use email account that is not associated with an Apple domain. This becomes your primary Apple ID email account. From here you can then set up your @icloud.com account but you cannot set that @icloud.com address as the primary account address because Apple does not allow users to do so with Apple owned domains.

Not to be confusing, but you can set the @icloud.com address as your Apple ID. To do so, just attempt to log into your primary email address a few times until you are prompted to go to iforgot dot apple.com. From here just enter your @icloud.com address and select to verify account by answering security questions; do not use verify by email. Once you successfully answer the security questions you will be prompted for a new password. After that your @icloud.com address will become your default Apple ID, you can now access iCloud with the @icloud.com address, and you can now use the @iclould.com address for email.

There isn't anything you can do with an iCloud.com Apple ID that you can't so with a gmail-based ID, if that's what you're asking. The reason you can't attach your new iCloud address to your existing gmail-based Apple ID account is that, as the previous poster indicated, every iCloud.com address automatically becomes its own independent Apple ID. And Apple, despite tons of interest from users, still won't let you merge two different Apple IDs.

You can, if you're interested, add your new iCloud based account and use it for email, Find Friends, iMessage, FaceTime, etc., while keeping your previous account tied to iTunes and the App Store. I've done it that way for years.