Apple TV Movies - Some Download As MOVPKG Filetype

[JimmerJabber]

Is there an easy way to plug a standard 4K Blu-Ray player into a mac (eg some sort of converter cord)?

Or do you need a special USB 4K Blu-Ray player? If yes - any recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[hinrgmike]

I'm using a Pioneer BDR-XS07UHD picked up from Pioneer via Amazon for $175 recently. As far as I know cannot just play a 4k disc directly on Mac with any program currently. However, this unit works fantastic with MakeMKV software to rip and DVD, Blu-ray, and UHD 4K. Just rip to hard drive and then I run the movie thru Handbrake to compress it down. But once you rip the 4K to drive, can use VLC to play the 4K directly on Mac screen. I went with this unit because I wanted a plug and play solution to rip from without having to do anything like flash the unit (most require some firmware flashing to work). I just plugged the pioneer into Mac using a USB-C cable and good to go. MakeMKV is free in that you can download new version every 3 months and it then maintains the trial registration; been like that for years. I went ahead and made the one time payment long ago so I don't have to deal with that. But that and Handbrake are my go to solutions and especially now that I will be completely abandoning the Apple store going forwards.

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[JimmerJabber]

Thanks hinrgmike, very helpful. Will look into it.

Hope you're also enjoying the new MBP 2023 listed in your signature block!

 

[sboy2]

I found a work around with a catch. All my movies on my M2 Air are downloading as .movpkg but if within the Apple TV app I go to Account > Account Settings > Manage Devices (under Downloads and Purchases) > scroll to the bottom and click purchased > uncheck Download HD when available a m4v file will be downloaded. The catch is that it downloads in SD obviously which isn't ideal but it can be synced to devices this way. Maybe someone can take this info and figure out how to get HD m4v files?

 

[hinrgmike]

I found a work around with a catch. All my movies on my M2 Air are downloading as .movpkg but if within the Apple TV app I go to Account > Account Settings > Manage Devices (under Downloads and Purchases) > scroll to the bottom and click purchased > uncheck Download HD when available a m4v file will be downloaded. The catch is that it downloads in SD obviously which isn't ideal but it can be synced to devices this way. Maybe someone can take this info and figure out how to get HD m4v files?

Yes, you can get SD m4v files that way but no way to get HD files. On PC with iTunes one can still get 720p HD files but no longer 1080p. I've given up on buying any more thru iTunes and have started buying Blu-ray/4k media again and ripping. Actually works out better because now I can have 4K version locally instead of having 1080p file and depending on streaming 4k versions via Apple TV.

 

[sboy2]

Yes, you can get SD m4v files that way but no way to get HD files. On PC with iTunes one can still get 720p HD files but no longer 1080p. I've given up on buying any more thru iTunes and have started buying Blu-ray/4k media again and ripping. Actually works out better because now I can have 4K version locally instead of having 1080p file and depending on streaming 4k versions via Apple TV.

Yeah streaming 4k isn't really better than just a Blu-ray anyway. The color is too compressed and it looks like a mess in literally like any bright scenes it seems

 

[HDFan]

As far as I know cannot just play a 4k disc directly on Mac with any program currently.

You can play a 4K disk with Infuse.

However, this unit works fantastic with MakeMKV software to rip and DVD, Blu-ray, and UHD 4K.

How do you rip a 4K disk via MakeMKV without having modified firmware?

Always buy the physical media (best prices are around Black Friday) so don't have to hassle with Apple's restrictions or a Studios' arbitrary decision to discontinue a title. Play the .mkv with Infuse or Plex.

 

[hinrgmike]

You can play a 4K disk with Infuse.



How do you rip a 4K disk via MakeMKV without having modified firmware?

Always buy the physical media (best prices are around Black Friday) so don't have to hassle with Apple's restrictions or a Studios' arbitrary decision to discontinue a title. Play the .mkv with Infuse or Plex.

I only see Open File in Infuse and no way to open and play the disk itself.

The Pioneer BDR-XS07UDH does not require any firmware updates/modifications to rip 4K UHD (or any other) when using MakeMKV. It's literally plug and play. I didn't want the hassle of dealing with firmware and researched on the MakeMKV forums and came across this model and said it worked with Macs (though I just read on Macrumors a few days ago that ALL the Pioneer drives are having problems in the latest update to Ventura (luckily I have not updated my OS and won't until that's addressed). Anyways, had this Pioneer for a few months and super happy with it.

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[HDFan]

only see Open File in Infuse and no way to open and play the disk itself.

Most likely the drive doesn't support 4K on your Mac. I am able to open 4K disks with my Asus and WHN drives. They have the firmware updates.






Here's a screen shot of infused playing the 4K disk "Dirty Dancing"





I do see on the MakeMKV forum:

"Pioneer UHD drives are now supported more info about that will be coming from the developer and once the info is out i will update stuff here
this is a work in progress
there will be no friendly pioneer drives only official UHD drives will be able to read UHD discs so dont buy an non UHD one and expect it to work with UHD
Pioneer Drives Currently do not need to be flashed they should just work. if you pioneer UHD drive does not work post your makemkv drive info here: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27378"

Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2023 - www.makemkv.com

I didn't want the hassle of dealing with firmware

Neither did I. Purchased both drives from a MKV forum member who sells modified drives.

 

[hinrgmike]

Most likely the drive doesn't support 4K on your Mac. I am able to open 4K disks with my Asus and WHN drives. They have the firmware updates.

View attachment 2156406




Here's a screen shot of infused playing the 4K disk "Dirty Dancing"

View attachment 2156403



I do see on the MakeMKV forum:

"Pioneer UHD drives are now supported more info about that will be coming from the developer and once the info is out i will update stuff here
this is a work in progress
there will be no friendly pioneer drives only official UHD drives will be able to read UHD discs so dont buy an non UHD one and expect it to work with UHD
Pioneer Drives Currently do not need to be flashed they should just work. if you pioneer UHD drive does not work post your makemkv drive info here: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27378"

Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2023 - www.makemkv.com

Neither did I. Purchased both drives from a MKV forum member who sells modified drives.

That's what I figured is that software cannot read the Pioneer. Which is fine. I'm super happy with the drive and being plug and play. Rips 4K UHD perfect right out of the box connected to iMac running MakeMKV. I don't watch anything on my computer anyways. I rip and run 4K and everything thru Plex and Apple TV app in parallel.

 

[SWAON]

I have the same issue. Managed to download in m4v format with windows iTunes 12.9 as a workaround and it worked.

 

[mtngal]

I just ran into this recently and tried to download a movie as 480P SD, but I still got a MOVPKG file. I also spent several hours talking to various very nice Apple Support people who tried very hard to figure out a way to get my AppleTV 4K to "see" the files on my computer. So I ended up filling out a form on the feedback site. I'm guessing that this is an issue that will never be fixed (allowing AppleTV boxes to play a .MOVPKG file that's on a computer). My movie collection on the computer is small, guess when I go somewhere with only minimal/slow internet I'll only be able to watch the same few movies I have that are .m4v file format. I really don't want to buy a separate Blu-ray player since space, size and weight are all significant problems for me.

 

[ssaylor]

I also spent several hours talking to various very nice Apple Support people who tried very hard to figure out a way to get my AppleTV 4K to "see" the files on my computer. So I ended up filling out a form on the feedback site.

I did so as well - "Movies purchased from the Apple Store and downloaded in the.movpkg are incompatible and missing from Apple Home Sharing." I ended up with an escalated case and after screen sharing my Mac and iPad Air, the rep was advised bu Engineering that this is a known issue and there currently is no fix. HOME SHARING IS WORKING AS DESIGNED.

Another great example of Apple's "Silo's of Excellence" where one hand is unaware of what the other is doing - the cart really got ahead of the horse on this one. I'm sure Steve is getting tired of rolling over in his grave....

 

[Boyd01]

I just downloaded a 10-movie package of Star Trek films a week ago and they are all 1080p .m4v files. However, I do all my downloads on a 2014 Mini media server running iTunes under Mojave. This thread further reinforces my desire to stay with Mojave and iTunes on that machine.

 

[priitv8]

I did so as well - "Movies purchased from the Apple Store and downloaded in the.movpkg are incompatible and missing from Apple Home Sharing." I ended up with an escalated case and after screen sharing my Mac and iPad Air, the rep was advised bu Engineering that this is a known issue and there currently is no fix. HOME SHARING IS WORKING AS DESIGNED.

FWIW - also Apple Music Lossless and Atmos tracks download as moviepkg.
Instead of a complete piece/feature in a single file, they contain encrypted HLS streams.
On another note - tvOS also hides any movie tagged with 4K media kind and/or having the video encoded in Dolby Vision codec, from Home Sharing.

 

[CaptTee]

I downloaded Tetris.movpkg on my new M2 Mac Mini running Ventura. I copied it to my media server,
The old Apple TV.app (1.0.6.8) on media server (my old i7 Mac Mini running Catalina) wouldn't recognize the file.
Checked some forums. Tried using VLC to convert the file. It acted like it would but failed.
Then found this forum and tried downloading using the TV.app on my old machine. Slower Machine, I can hear the hard drive on the other side of my study spinning away! Got bored. Tried HandBrake. It failed too.
Success, sort of. It downloaded to my old i7 Mac Mini, but it is still a movpkg file. It shows up in the TV.app, but the movie does not show up with my Movies on my AppleTV 4K attached to my TV in the living room???

 

[Boyd01]

Guess you need to stay with iTunes and Mojave if you want usable files...

 

[bandini5]

I'm actually pretty upset about this. Just another digital product you buy but don't really own. I have all the titles i've ripped on a separate drive, as we get a lot of power outages where I live. Was relieved when I realized I could buy them on Apple TV and bypass the whole ripping process, since some come with commentaries that are hard to filter out over the actual film... and now this. I won't be buying anymore until they fix it.

 

[raziel101]

Has anyone here called Apple Support about this?

I purchased a movie two days ago released in 2016 (Passengers) and it downloaded in HLS. However, I purchased Tenant (big mistake) back in December and it downloaded in M4V.

I'm using Catalina and have download quality set as Up to HD along with Download Multichannel Audio and HDR checked.

 

[Fpmtngal]

I called a couple of months ago and didn’t get any help - talked to several different people as I got passed around between people when the person I was talking to couldn’t help. I also opened a ticket but never heard back, no surprise if they don’t want to solve it.

Has anyone called recently? I would love to see this solved.

 

[raziel101]

Has anyone here called Apple Support about this?

I purchased a movie two days ago released in 2016 (Passengers) and it downloaded in HLS. However, I purchased Tenant (big mistake) back in December and it downloaded in M4V.

I'm using Catalina and have download quality set as Up to HD along with Download Multichannel Audio and HDR checked.

Well I got my purchase refunded - I didn't get a chance to explain the issue to Apple Support in the hopes of getting this resolved. I can't stream the movie off Apple servers anymore but have the download on my external drive.

 

[Joel996C4S]

I noticed this issue around 8 months ago. I have opened at least 6 tickets with Apple Support for this issue. None of them were able to resolve it, there appear to be different groups in charge of AppleTV vs. iTunes (where the downloaded movies live, now the TV app.) Not one person at Apple understood the issue even after I sent them this thread among other data points including screen shares and video recordings of my Mac vs. my AppleTV.

I am hopeful with every software update that this issue will get resolved (we just need the AppleTV to read the movie package format and we're back in business) but it never seems to happen. Being optimistic, I'll say hopefully soon.

 

[priitv8]

I noticed this issue around 8 months ago. I have opened at least 6 tickets with Apple Support for this issue. None of them were able to resolve it, there appear to be different groups in charge of AppleTV vs. iTunes (where the downloaded movies live, now the TV app.) Not one person at Apple understood the issue even after I sent them this thread among other data points including screen shares and video recordings of my Mac vs. my AppleTV.

I am hopeful with every software update that this issue will get resolved (we just need the AppleTV to read the movie package format and we're back in business) but it never seems to happen. Being optimistic, I'll say hopefully soon.

ffmpeg, btw is able to decrypt those encrypted HLS streams and re-mux them into MP4 file.
You just need to have the encryption key.
Maybe it is contained in, or pointed at, also in that moviepkg container?

 

[fletch622]

Hi all,

First post here - like you all, I discovered this week that at some point between last winter and now, Apple shifted to HLS streams when "downloading" purchases from within the macOS TV app. Was going out of my mind trying to transfer some downloads to my Nano (yes, I still love that thing - less backlight in bed, keeps the "Too bright!" comments from the wife away) with everything erroring out ("...because it cannot be played on this iPod.").

But with some prior comments in this thread leading the way, it turns out that (at least in my case) it was still downloading in .m4v format in addition to the HLS file, thus needing to find a slightly backdoor method to getting these videos onto iPhone/iPod. Read on and see if any of this works for you.

To start, the first thing I noticed is to watch the download progress within the TV app - if you are seeing MB transferred along with the percent complete, it's downloading .m4v by default and the below may be irrelevant, i.e. easy transfer.

However, if only a percentage is being displayed, it's downloading with HLS and this convoluted method may apply.

My test was with "Back to the Future" - never had any problems with the download until this week. First thing I noticed was that it was only a percentage indicated in the download progress. Here are my current preferences for downloading (although I did test with a variety of options, all seemed to give the same results):

After the download completed, I wanted to see what the file itself looked like:

Turns out that when revealing in the Finder, I had two downloaded files in the target folder - see below, along with the Get Info detail for each:

If you have another Finder window open to the target device, dragging the .m4v file into that Finder window does start the transfer onto the device.

This may also work for those of you wishing to archive the actual .m4v file, as opposed to transferring onto a device for viewing.

Part of the problem, it seems, is with the TV app itself. When dragging a download to the device displayed in the TV sidebar, it seems that it defaults to selecting the HLS file behind the scenes, and not the .m4v, hence why nothing is being accepted as being playable.

Like I said - this may work for you.... but with Apple development falling by the wayside these days, any glimmer of hope helps.

The only caveat is that I'm still testing on recent movie purchases - currently downloading something I purchased a week or so ago. Will advise whether this method still holds.

Now if only I can find a way to get my new iPhone to actually MOUNT my purchased library (after close to a week of "Syncing your library...") - and that's for just Music. The TV library is a whole other headache...

 

[fletch622]

I got one of my most recent purchases to download to .m4v with the following tweak to TV Preferences (mentioned earlier by someone) - check "Download Multichannel Audio" along with selecting "Most Compatible HD (1080p)":

First attempt (with original settings) would only download the HLS file. Once the Preferences changes were done, the download progress window changed to displaying MB/GB downloaded (as opposed to just a percentage):

Final download appeared as such in Finder:

This was purchased about a week or so ago - definitely falling into the HLS new purchase realm...


Now as far as SD versions of HD purchases (to save device space) goes - we've been SOL on that one since the day TV was unveiled. Only method I know of for this still holds, i.e. run an old version of iTunes and download through your Purchases page.

Or if on iOS, assuming the movie still is for sale (and still recognizes your purchase of said title), you can download the SD version through the movie's listing page.