iTunes allows you to easily convert m4a files to mp3 files.

If you’ve been using your iPhone to record voice memos, all your voice memos will end up as m4a files on your iTunes. If you need to convert those m4a files to mp3 files for writing it to a playable media or hosting it on a website or such iTunes can help you convert those m4a files to mp3 files very easily and it works.

Go to iTunes “Preferences” menu option. On the “General” settings dialog click on the “Import Settings…” button.

On the Import Settings dialog choose “MP3 Encoder” for “Import Using:” option and then set the quality of the import to your preference.

Once done, get back to iTunes where you have the m4a files. Right-click on a m4a file and click on the “Create MP3 Version” menu option. iTunes will convert the m4a file to mp3 but won’t reveal the file on the same folder.

To get to the mp3 version of the file, right-click again on the m4a file and click on the “Show in Finder” menu option. iTunes will then reveal the mp3 version of the file along with the m4a version.

If, for some reason, you can’t find the mp3 version of the file then it’s possible that iTunes must have copied the file to the “Unknown Artist” > “Unknown Album” folder under the “iTunes Music” folder. Make sure to check this location if you can’t find the mp3 version.

For the many attempts I’ve made to convert the m4a version to mp3 version this technique worked successfully consistently. I hope you find it easy to use.