Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Highlighting 4K HDR Movies in iTunes Ahead of Apple TV 4K Launch

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
67,548
37,905



Ahead of the launch of the Apple TV 4K, Apple has updated its iTunes Store on Mac, iOS, and Apple TV with several sections highlighting a range of 4K HDR movies that are available to purchase or rent.

The 4K section lists dozens of movies broken down into categories like New Releases, Visually Stunning, Action & Adventure, Drama, Comedies, and more.

apple4khdr-800x505.jpg

Quite a few new releases are available in 4K, including Wonder Woman, Baby Driver, Alien: Covenant, Logan, John Wick: Chapter 2, La La Land, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Apple first began making 4K content available for purchase late last week. Apple's 4K movies are available at the same price as HD movies, with new releases typically available for $19.99.

iTunes customers who have already purchased HD quality content can expect to see their HD films upgraded to 4K at no additional cost.

4K iTunes content will be available on the Apple TV 4K, set to launch this Friday, September 22. Pricing on the 4K Apple TV starts at $179 for 32GB of storage.

Article Link: Apple Highlighting 4K HDR Movies in iTunes Ahead of Apple TV 4K Launch
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/20/apple-highlighting-4k-hdr-movies-itunes/
Getting 4K movies for the same price as HD is a huge win for consumers. I honestly didn’t think that was a battle Apple would have won.
 
  • Like
Reactions: benji888
Twinsbb17 said:
I'm really hoping my already-redeemed digital copies from my blu-rays will be upgraded to 4K in iTunes. If that's the case, though, the secondary market for digital copy codes just went up.
Click to expand...

I was looking, and I noticed that some of my digital copies appear to be upgraded, but some did not.

Star Trek from 2009, shows as if I did not purchase it in the iTunes Sotr app, but when I go to the TV app, it shows as if I did. So I am a little bit confused.
 
kepardue said:
Funny enough, I can see the big ol' 4K HDR promotional in the iTunes Store, but every single movie is still showing up as being just HD quality. I'm wanting to watch some 4K goodness on my 5K iMac!
Click to expand...

Are you running High Sierra? I'm guessing that's why it hasn't given you the option yet.
 
Yeah, what gives with not supporting 4K on macOS? I spent quite the pretty penny buying my 15" MBP and LG 4K external display, yet can't download and play movies in 4K? Crazy.

brianrmurray said:
Are you running High Sierra? I'm guessing that's why it hasn't given you the option yet.
Click to expand...
Oh, it's just the High Sierra betas that don't support 4K?
 
dlscharlau said:
Your downloaded HD movies in your iTunes library will not be changed. 4K versions of your past purchases are only offered for streaming to the Apple TV 4K.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207949
Click to expand...
But they at least show up as 4K HDR on the iPhone and iPad, even though neither device can play them. Seems like they should at least offer the 4K for the ones that can use that resolution and playback, which the latest generation of iMac should certainly be able to do.
brianrmurray said:
Are you running High Sierra? I'm guessing that's why it hasn't given you the option yet.
Click to expand...
Yep, I'm running High Sierra. Maybe they'll release a point update that enables 4K next week when the GM goes public?
 
kepardue said:
Funny enough, I can see the big ol' 4K HDR promotional in the iTunes Store, but every single movie is still showing up as being just HD quality. I'm wanting to watch some 4K goodness on my 5K iMac!
Click to expand...
dlscharlau said:
Your downloaded HD movies in your iTunes library will not be changed. 4K versions of your past purchases are only offered for streaming to the Apple TV 4K.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207949
Click to expand...
"When you buy or rent a movie from the iTunes Store, it automatically plays in the highest-quality format available for the device on which you're watching it.

Compatible devices can play higher-quality videos, such as 4K, HDR, or Dolby Vision versions, from the iTunes Store and some third-party apps."

This may also be a factor: "The higher the quality of the video that you're trying to stream, the faster your Internet connection has to be. (Apple recommends a minimum speed of 25 Mbps for 4K streaming.) Your Apple devices automatically switch the video quality to a lower quality version if your Internet connection isn't fast enough."

If you click on the link for "checking the tech specs for your apple product", it doesn't say HDR in the specs., it would appear that the latest iMac retinas only do 500nits brightness, from what I understand you need at least 600nits brightness for HDR. So they might do 4K, and they might have better color (as P3 color is part of the UHD spec.), but, not HDR.

That leaves the ATV 4K, as the only devices that does 4K + HDR, iPhone X, 2017 iPad Pro models will do HDR, but, not 4K, and, I assume, the 4K, 5K retina iMacs will do 4K, but, not HDR.
TailsToo said:
I was looking, and I noticed that some of my digital copies appear to be upgraded, but some did not.

Star Trek from 2009, shows as if I did not purchase it in the iTunes Sotr app, but when I go to the TV app, it shows as if I did. So I am a little bit confused.
Click to expand...
I have the digital copy of Star Trek 2009, but, it is only SD, as that was all they offered at the time, whereas Star Trek Into Darkness is 4K HDR. If you read the link above, SD will not be upgraded. :(
 
bommai said:
How about the audio? Are they still limiting it to the ancient Dolby digital? What about Dolby Atmos?
Click to expand...

Dolby Digital Plus. How many digital films currently on the market support Atmos? Last I checked it was up to 150. Which is really small compared to the tens of thousands of available content currently available.
 
bommai said:
How about the audio? Are they still limiting it to the ancient Dolby digital? What about Dolby Atmos?
Click to expand...
They support Dolby Digital Plus up to 7.1 channels. DD+ is pretty much the standard for streaming, and will do Dolby Atmos, but, ATV does not support Atmos (both ATV & ATV 4K handle audio the same way). see: #107

While Apple does support DD+ (which is better than DD), it appears to be hit or miss, I see DD 5.1, sometimes DD+ 7.1, but, I've yet to see DD+ 5.1, not sure why this is. (Wonder Woman has 4K, DV HDR, but, DD 5.1 audio???, VUDU has it with DD+ Atmos. :rolleyes:).
 
this was news to me...

Find out what video quality your device can play
HD videos feature a higher-quality picture than SD videos. Some videos also include even higher-quality content, with a 4K option for 4K-compatible devices.

You can see if your device can play 4K, HDR, or Dolby Vision videos by checking the tech specs for your Apple product.

Only the Apple TV 4K, connected to a 4K-compatible television with a compatible ultra-high speed HDMI cable, can play 4K content.

from - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207949
 
RGunner said:
this was news to me...

Find out what video quality your device can play
HD videos feature a higher-quality picture than SD videos. Some videos also include even higher-quality content, with a 4K option for 4K-compatible devices.

You can see if your device can play 4K, HDR, or Dolby Vision videos by checking the tech specs for your Apple product.


Only the Apple TV 4K, connected to a 4K-compatible television with a compatible ultra-high speed HDMI cable, can play 4K content.
Click to expand...

In addition....

Check your Internet connection
The higher the quality of the video that you're trying to stream, the faster your Internet connection has to be. (Apple recommends a minimum speed of 25 Mbps for 4K streaming.) Your Apple devices automatically switch the video quality to a lower quality version if your Internet connection isn't fast enough.

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.
 
benji888 said:
Yeah, everyone, High Sierra is probably required for 4K content as it will have the new video codec required.
Click to expand...
The link posted above says:

"Only the Apple TV 4K, connected to a 4K-compatible television with a compatible ultra-high speed HDMI cable, can play 4K content."

It probably has less to do with technical limitations of the hardware or OS than with DRM restrictions set by the studios.
 
Rigby said:
The link posted above says:

"Only the Apple TV 4K, connected to a 4K-compatible television with a compatible ultra-high speed HDMI cable, can play 4K content."

It probably has less to do with technical limitations of the hardware or OS than with DRM restrictions set by the studios.
Click to expand...
yeah, that's true, but, that's going to be in the monitor or screen, so, 2017 4K and 5K retina iMacs should have HDCP 2.2 for UHD compliance, maybe even the previous models, but, of course, do they?

So, there's a hardware spec., and the software for apple's (universal) implementation of 4K compressed files. I'm guessing macOS HS will be required, but, I was going to say a new version of iTunes for mac/pc also?

It would be easier if Apple would just tell us which of their devices are capable of 4K + HDR, which can only do 4K, and which can only do HDR. :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back