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iTunes Store Now Offering HD Movie Sales in UK

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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,481
30,717



120635-eclipse_hd_uk.jpg


Several MacRumors readers have written in to report that Apple has begun offering high-definition movies for sale in its UK iTunes Store. A very limited library of titles appears to be available at the moment with, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse appearing to be the highest-profile release available for purchase in HD.

Films priced at £9.99 for standard definition are carrying £12.99 price tags in high definition, while cheaper films typically priced at £6.99 for standard definition are being offered at £7.99 in high definition.

Apple launched iTunes movie rentals and sales in the UK in June 2008, but high-definition films were only available for rent, and even then only with limited titles. The company began offering HD movie sales in the United States in March 2009, but has been slow to extend the offering to other countries.

Article Link: iTunes Store Now Offering HD Movie Sales in UK
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/12/08/itunes-store-now-offering-hd-movie-sales-in-uk/
M

michaelmac

macrumors member
Jun 27, 2006
94
3
Beat me to it - was going to add at those prices you would have to be bonkers to pay for a 720p download when you could pick up the Blu-Ray for not much more.

Weird thinking from Apple here but sadly one of the reasons they probably won't ever give us Blu-Ray drives on Macs as they want a share of the revenue from renting/buying an inferior product online.
 
R

rmwebs

macrumors 68040
Apr 6, 2007
3,140
0
£12.99 :eek: Seems a little steep when we have all the internet based TV/Movie services in the UK. Cant see Apple competing with that well given how poorly the new Apple TV has been received in the UK (an expensive useless box outside the US).

I'll be sticking with: LoveFilm, Sky Player (AWESOME!), SeeSaw, iPlayer, 4OD, ITV Player and TVCatchup.
 
C

CplBadboy

macrumors 6502
Mar 1, 2008
405
3
United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland
LOL!

Rip off UK. My advice buy the Bluray for the same price or less. More and more are also shipping with digital copies too so Apple and the big screens really need to wise up and be realistic about pricing. People are mad if they but these at 12.99! Until prices for online sales come down dramatically then buying physical media surpasses this online extortion racket. Truth is every country outside the US is getting ripped off and with less content.
 
P

Phantom1812

macrumors newbie
Jul 20, 2010
29
0
You'd have to be out of your mind to pay £13 for a movie from iTunes. I mean clinically insane. Or so bloody stupid you don't deserve the £13 in the first place.
 
Z

zin

macrumors 6502
May 5, 2010
491
6,617
United Kingdom
The iTunes Movie Store in the UK is a rip off (or, more generally, everywhere outside of the US iTunes Movie Store).

The price for a HD movie purchase, in my opinion, should be bordering the £6.99 mark with SD purchases of new releases being £4.99. All rentals should be 99p for HD, or 79p for SD (although I think that's pushing it).

I'm sure they'd sell more if the rentals and purchase pricing were refreshed (obviously).

£12.99 is an absolute joke, in my opinion.
 
Piggie

Piggie

macrumors G3
Feb 23, 2010
9,117
4,015
Have to agree with most the comments so far.

I'd rather buy a real physical 1080p BluRay movie for this type of price.

Be able to watch it on any device I wish and if I want I can lend it to other members of my family or friends, and if I get bored, I can sell it on and get at least half of my money back.

People who buy things like this must have well paid jobs to be able to throw this much money away on things like this in a lower quality, just because they can't wait 1 or 2 days for the real thing to be delivered.
 
HLdan

HLdan

macrumors 603
Aug 22, 2007
6,383
0
michaelmac said:
Beat me to it - was going to add at those prices you would have to be bonkers to pay for a 720p download when you could pick up the Blu-Ray for not much more.
Click to expand...

You're assuming everyone has a Blu-Ray player.
 
L

Leoff

macrumors regular
Jun 8, 2004
140
0
GAH! You had to use "Eclipse" as an example?!? Way to drive away readers from this site!
 
koobcamuk

koobcamuk

macrumors 68040
Oct 23, 2006
3,195
9
LOL, what a rip-off.

I'll keep getting my films via the normal channels until the prices become realistic.
 
Spanky Deluxe

Spanky Deluxe

macrumors demi-god
Mar 17, 2005
5,282
1,745
London, UK
Pricing fail.

For pretty much the same price you can get a bluray version that's got far higher video and audio quality, more extra features, is re-sellable and you can lend it to friends. A lot of Blurays come with "triple play" these days too which includes a DVD copy and a digital copy that you can play on your iOS device or computers.
 
Boston007

Boston007

macrumors 6502
Apr 9, 2010
458
145
Movie selection

They could not have picked a different movie? LOL

Eclipse = GAG

:p
 
MRU

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,368
8,948
a better place
FallibleClover said:
Also applies to Irish iTunes Stores, can only see Eclipse at the moment €16.99 for HD version
Click to expand...

Was just about to post that :)



Spanky Deluxe said:
Pricing fail.

For pretty much the same price you can get a bluray version that's got far higher video and audio quality, more extra features, is re-sellable and you can lend it to friends. A lot of Blurays come with "triple play" these days too which includes a DVD copy and a digital copy that you can play on your iOS device or computers.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Nearly all the blu-ray's I've bought lately have come with digital versions (alongside DVD copy) and I have paid only €3-4 more that what Apple is charging for the download itself.

The rental pricing of €4.99 is not too bad (a little pricey perhaps) but sale price is just too much.
 
Last edited:
C

camarobh

macrumors 6502
Jul 17, 2007
360
22
San Diego, CA
Not enough HD movies

If it's anything like the US store, the price doesn't matter as a vast majority of movies are ONLY available in standard definition.
 
J

jacollins

macrumors 6502a
Jun 19, 2010
531
0
I suspect the prices are from the source and not Apple. The movie companies have no sense of reality.
 
M

macadam212

macrumors regular
Jul 5, 2007
156
0
Why have they recently started calling them Films in the UK, we do use the word Movie too over here. Feels inconsistent when it says Film on iTunes but everywhere else like on Apple TV and Front Row it says Movie. There's even a movie folder in my home folder. :(
 
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