4K iTunes Content Limited to Streaming Only, No Downloads

[MacRumors]

Apple has updated its iTunes Store on iOS devices and the Apple TV with plenty of 4K movies ahead of the launch of the Apple TV 4K, but as made clear in a recent support document, 4K content from Apple can be streamed, but not downloaded directly on a device.

According to Apple, customers can download a local copy of an HD movie, and on occasion, HD movies that support HDR and Dolby Vision, but 4K movies are not available for download and thus can't be watched without an internet connection.

You can download a local copy of an HD movie, and you might be able to download HDR and Dolby Vision versions, but you can't download a 4K version.

That means customers who have had their previously-purchased iTunes movies upgraded from HD to 4K at no cost can stream those movies in 4K, but can only download HD versions. Newly purchased content is also restricted from download.

It's not clear why Apple is not allowing customers to download 4K content onto their devices, but it could potentially be a licensing issue. Apple is providing 4K content at the same price as HD content, though movie studios were rumored to want to charge more. It's also possible it's a local storage issue, as 4K movies have large file sizes.

To stream 4K content to the new Apple TV 4K, Apple recommends a minimum speed of 25Mb/s, according to the support document. If an internet connection isn't fast enough, Apple will downscale the video quality.

In addition to the download restriction, one other major negative surfaced today -- the 4K Apple TV does not support 4K content from YouTube at this time. YouTube streams its 4K content using a VP9 video format, a codec the Apple TV does not support. The 4K Apple TV is limited to H.264, HEVC (H.265), and MP4.

Netflix and 4K content from other streaming services is supported, however, and Apple has promised 4K content from Amazon Prime Video will be available when the app launches later this year.

The first Apple TV 4K orders will begin arriving to customers on Friday, September 22, the official launch date of the device.

Article Link: 4K iTunes Content Limited to Streaming Only, No Downloads

 

[supremedesigner]

Now what? I’m hoping this will be changed soon.

 

[zorinlynx]

That's a shame; not everyone has a fast enough connection to stream 4K reliably. Being able to download the movie and then watch it later would have been useful.

 

[supremedesigner]

Is 4K available for iPhone 7/8 Plus and X?

 

[Vasilioskn]

Eye roll.

 

[AronDraws]

Good to know-- our internet is crap after 6PM (Huzzah Charter Spectrum!) so we would have to download movies to watch. Knowing we can't, I'll hold off on picking one of these up. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[fitshaced]

Apple seem to go out of their way to not deliver the obvious solution that people want. If it's 4k let it be 4k without silly restrictions.

 

[joshen]

Bummer, I was hoping it would stay the same for convenience. I suppose they did it to discourage piracy. Always liked iTunes for movies and tv since its the only provider that offers downloads and not just streaming for purchases.

 

[brock2621]

I'm sure this was a licensing issue. There's probably some clause in the studio contract that restricts full copies of their movies from being completely downloaded and streamed unlimited. They "lose track" of things when that happens and studios don't like not knowing as much as possible about where their products are. I'm happy if that was what finally got the studios to agree to not charging $10 more per movie

 

[Aussi3]

Wouldn’t this be because the file size? I could imagine a good couple of 4K movies and you would be out of space?

 

[Rogifan]

That's a shame; not everyone has a fast enough connection to stream 4K reliably. Being able to download the movie and then watch it later would have been useful.

How long would it take to download a 4K movie on a slow connection?

 

[Palmy_Jon]

Fekking awesome! I have a 20Meg connection!

I thought I was lucky having just received my 4K Apple TV this morning as I live in NZ. If I had know this when I ordered, I wouldn't have!

I did wonder why Wonder Woman looked so crappy when I tried it out this morning! My TV has Netflix 4K and that looks fantastic so why can't Apple manage it?

Back to plan B and get an UHD player.

I'm not a happy bunny this morning....

 

[CWallace]

Apple seem to go out of their way to not deliver the obvious solution that people want.

More like the content providers as I am confident it is their decision - after all, they wanted to charge more and Apple convinced almost all of them not to do so - hardly the actions of a company that "goes out of their way to not deliver".

Wouldn’t this be because the file size? I could imagine a good couple of 4K movies and you would be out of space?

H.265 is a more effective CODEC at reducing file size than the H.264 used for current HD content so capacity should not be a major concern.

 

[farewelwilliams]

Now what? I’m hoping this will be changed soon.

That's a shame; not everyone has a fast enough connection to stream 4K reliably. Being able to download the movie and then watch it later would have been useful.

Eye roll.

Good to know-- our internet is crap after 6PM (Huzzah Charter Spectrum!) so we would have to download movies to watch. Knowing we can't, I'll hold off on picking one of these up. Thanks for the heads up!

Apple seem to go out of their way to not deliver the obvious solution that people want. If it's 4k let it be 4k without silly restrictions.

Bummer, I was hoping it would stay the same for convenience. I suppose they did it to discourage piracy. Always liked iTunes for movies and tv since its the only provider that offers downloads and not just streaming for purchases.

it's likely a storage issue. sure they could probably include a 128gb flash on the apple tv, but that would hold what? 1 or 2 4k movies? at what cost? extra $50-$100 to shell out?

sure you could probably download to your imac then somehow airplay the 4k hdr to your apple tv, but the whole point of a set top box (and what Apple learned from the first version of Apple TV) is to not need a computer to watch movies.

if your internet can't handle it, you're probably not ready for 4k. this is the exact reason why Apple TV 4k took a while to come out. It's not that Apple couldn't figure out how to make a 4k device, but rather they were waiting until the tech was ripe enough to release a 4k streaming device.

 

[zorinlynx]

I'm sure this was a licensing issue. There's probably some clause in the studio contract that restricts full copies of their movies from being completely downloaded and streamed unlimited. They "lose track" of things when that happens and studios don't like not knowing as much as possible about where their products are. I'm happy if that was what finally got the studios to agree to not charging $10 more per movie

If they're so concerned about piracy, this is a silly way to try to stop it because if the data is being streamed, it can be intercepted, period.

I hate DRM, but still I admit that FairPlay lives up to its name, as being one of the more "fair" systems out there. Once you have your content you can watch it as much as you want, without needing the network or permission from the rights holder. I suspect the studios think FairPlay is *too* fair and don't want 4K video to be available with it.
[doublepost=1506034359][/doublepost]

it's likely a storage issue. sure they could probably include a 128gb flash, but that would hold what? 1 or 2 4k movies? at what cost? extra $50-$100 to shell out?

No, you download movies to your computer with iTunes, and they stream to your Apple TV from there.

This is how people with crap Internet the world over consume iTunes video content.

 

[Rigby]

Wouldn’t this be because the file size? I could imagine a good couple of 4K movies and you would be out of space?

Assuming Apple uses similar bitrates as other UHD streaming providers like Netflix, file sizes should be approximately 3 times that of iTunes HD movies, i.e. around 15GB for a 2-hour movie. Big, but not enormous in an age where you can buy drives with several TB for $100.

 

[mabhatter]

Is 4K available for iPhone 7/8 Plus and X?

The iPhone 6-8 plus are 1080 HD displays, what's the point? They only output HD.
The iPhone X is much higher, but not 4K higher. I believe the specs say it outputs video at HD also. (Airplay and Wired)

 

[dwman]

This clearly seems like it was done to appease the studios so that 4K content couldn't be downloaded and torrented all over the web.

 

[m4mario]

This is something that every customer should know before they purchase the product. This is a make or break issue. For me it totally breaks it. No Apple TV 4K for me.

 

[dylanwho]

Everyone upgraded their ISP packages to download HD content, but not having enough for 4x's resolution before encoding IS A BRIDGE TOO FAR. Watch YouTube on your UHD's native crAPP.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Unbelievable

I will be torrenting like crazy. Never going to accept limitations like this.

 

[farewelwilliams]

No, you download movies to your computer with iTunes, and they stream to your Apple TV from there.

This is how people with crap Internet the world over consume iTunes video content.

takes up way too much space.
if your internet can't handle streaming, you're not ready for 4k hdr. which is the majority of the population

which is why 4k Apple TV took so long to come out. not that they couldn't do it, but they were waiting for enough of the population to upgrade to make it worth updating to 4k hdr.

 

[adamjackson]

Welp...oh well. More of a reason why I've never bought any movies on iTunes. I rent a lot of movies but I'd prefer to spend $20 every 6 years and re-buy my favorite movies on a physical format in the resolution I want w/o any artifacts from heavy compression than lease movies I technically own from a service that likely won't exist 20 years from now.
[doublepost=1506034688][/doublepost]

Unbelievable

I will be torrenting like crazy. Never going to accept limitations like this.

Yep and you can't blame Apple here. They don't own any of this content. A lot of people gave Apple praise last week for upgrading all of the 1080P films to 4K. Apple didn't have any part in this. They begged movie studios for this and the studios agreed but with a few conditions, this being one of them.

The people that own the rights to media continue to shoot themselves in the foot when people want to give them money.

 

[Hustler1337]

I'm guessing it's down to storage and user experience management. A 4K movie can easily reach around 35GB+ so will eat up around half the space already of a 64GB Apple TV.

 

[daviddth]

Well guess who won’t upgrade then. 4Mb connection here won’t cut it