Apple TV 3 - where is a downloaded movie stored?

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Actually, unless something has changed, Apple and/or the Studios have decided that even if you purchase a 4K movie from the iTunes store, you cannot possess a copy of it on your own hardware. The only option is ALWAYS streaming it from iCloud. This differs from the past where you could purchase <4K versions of movies and actually download a copy to store on your own hardware.

In other words: you used to buy a movie and actually gain tangible control of it. Now you buy a movie and the seller keeps control of it, granting you access to it as a stream on demand. Whether one trusts such a scenario for the long term or not is up to them.

Personally, I prefer to actually possess & control things I purchase rather than allow for-profit middlemen to inject themselves between me and my "purchases" as that can theoretically yield a near-identical experience for the long term OR any number of other scenarios at the whims of those middlemen. When I possess my purchases, I have a pretty clear sense of what I can do with them now and for the long run. When I allow strangers to possess my "purchases" I have to needlessly inject a layer of hope that those strangers will act as caretaker of my "purchase" just like if I actually possessed a copy myself. As a consumer, one should choose wisely: Caveat emptor.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

Paul I am totally confused regarding the difference between the video that is "streaming" to the new Apple TV and the "downloading" it used to do. Will you explain the difference to me? Thank you Larry

No problem. With HD (1080p or 720p tick your pick) you can download and keep the file on your iPhone, iPad, MacBook etc.
Apple TV works in a way with this HD file where it temporarily downloads the file as it's playing. I'm guessing that this was in the olden days when people like myself in 2012 had slower non fibre broadband of 6mbps. By downloading it as it's playing, it should prevent buffering - pausing of the film which absolutely ruins the viewing experience.

Now with faster broadband, I guess that it's not needed providing that your WiFi is reliable (or else use Ethernet).

HOWEVER with the 4K iTunes agreement between Hollywood and Apple NO DOWNLOADING of the film is allowed AND it looks as though that this is the case with the Apple TV 4K were even this is not doing a temporary download.
It is streaming - so far for me it's been reliable but I guess it is risky with very little cache or maybe even zero, I don't know.
I guess that this is why Apple waited for HEVC as it is nicer to stream than a 4K h264 file. In a years time, AV1 will be the new compression format. It's claims to be 30% more efficient over HEVC which should prove even 'easier' to stream. And don't forget, fibre internet is appearing globally now, things are getting more reliable streaming wise. An example, my broadband company had 50mbps as a maximum 2 years ago, then it increased to 150 then 300. Six months ago, it increased again to 350mbps and this week we now have 400mbps (mine is reading 404mbps on WiFi using 5G at present).

It's very clear that Apple did a lot of testing with streaming and HEVC & 4K streaming before the ATV 4K was launched and being honest, I'm very very glad that they did not launch it 2 years ago when people cried out for it as: HEVC was not common practice and HDR/Dolby Vision was officially out there. I'm glad that they waited and released a damn good, reliable product. The icing on the cake will be Dolby Atmos sound this fall!

I'm heading over to South Africa tomorrow and I have my wonderful films from my iTunes library in HD all synced to my iPhone X for my 12 hour flight That's what I love about downloads, they fit into my lifestyle along with my music playlist and photo albums of friends, family & holidays

 

[Tech198]

The movie is already on Apple's servers, a copy is never made on their servers. Simply, your Apple ID now has this movie associated with it. Say it's movie #99144522, your Apple ID now has the movie #99144522 associated with it as paid (or rented).

The movie is downloaded to your Apple TV in it's small 8(?)gb memory. You can watch the movie immediately, or if you download something else, this movie is erased from the Apple TV memory.

When you request the movie again, say 2 months later, it's no longer on your Apple TV, presumably, because you've watched other movies in that time. A request is made to Apple's servers with your Apple ID, and Apple says you're authorized to view this movie, and it's downloaded again to your Apple TV (or whatever device you're requesting the movie from)

Apple TV doesn't technically download anything, it only streams... A 'download' would be considered a complete copy. but it does have a cache, which downloads bit at a time. I wouldn't even say 8Gig... As it makes more requests to the server during that time.

The only complete copy you can have is on iTunes itself after you sign in using same AppleID, after you purchased or rented from Apple TV.. (since now any rentals are universally accessed across all devices now to).. Pay once, download often

 

[LCC0256]

It looks like Paul is saying that because 4K movies are so large, they are never downloaded like standard of high-def movies, they are just streamed. Maybe they're allowed to download on a computer, just not an AppleTV? I don't know.

4K movies require about 12gb per hour (so around 20gb on average). Your new AppleTV only has 32 or 64gb, so Apple decided that instead of only allow 1-3 movies on those, it wouldn't allow it at all.

The concept about how Apple knows what movies you've bought and rented is the same. When you purchase a movie, the movie has an ID#. That ID# is now on your account on Apple's servers, so they know you're authorized to view it. Doesn't matter if you wipe your computer clean, when you login to your account, Apple still knows you purchased that movie.

Thank you so much Beagle I have an understanding now of how this works.