Disney Movies Showing as Available in 4K on iTunes Store in Select Countries

[bierdybard]

Looks like there's a dedicated section for them in the store now.

//edit: I didn't expand the subtext, but you can clearly see that HD owners are getting a free 4K upgrade.

 

[TimFL1]

I'd wait before doing anything that costs money to try to upgrade... I'm noticing things that weren't showing as 4K HDR in my library now showing categorized correctly. Probably better to give it a day or so and see what's "left" after the dust settles.

This.
None of my 40+ Disney flicks have upgraded to 4k or HDR yet.

 

[iReality85]

Well it’s about time. I refused to pay a single dime for Disney movies on iTunes because of them charging full price for just HD quality. Now I will gladly pay that for 4K / DV / DA.

For some reason, my Star Trek (2009) has never converted to 4K. It's annoying

Same here. Strange isn’t it? The only thing I can think of is the digital download code maybe didn’t support a future upgrade, but that’s just speculation. It’s frustrating that there’s no way to upgrade or even buy it again.

 

[mjharwaz]

Well it’s about time. I refused to pay a single dime for Disney movies on iTunes because of them charging full price for just HD quality. Now I will gladly pay that for 4K / DV / DA.



Same here. Strange isn’t it? The only thing I can think of is the digital download code maybe didn’t support a future upgrade, but that’s just speculation. It’s frustrating that there’s no way to upgrade or even buy it again.

Curious for you and the other poster, does your Star Trek HD version have iTunes Extras icon with it? I've noticed a couple of my HD movies that I redeemed or purchased around the shift from old iTunes Extras to newer iTunes extras didn't get the newer version and therefore weren't upgraded.

 

[EugW]

Well it’s about time. I refused to pay a single dime for Disney movies on iTunes because of them charging full price for
Same here. Strange isn’t it? The only thing I can think of is the digital download code maybe didn’t support a future upgrade, but that’s just speculation. It’s frustrating that there’s no way to upgrade or even buy it again.

Actually, when I go to the iTunes Store, it shows the 4K version of Star Trek (2009) as available for purchase, even though I already have the HD version.

Curious for you and the other poster, does your Star Trek HD version have iTunes Extras icon with it? I've noticed a couple of my HD movies that I redeemed or purchased around the shift from old iTunes Extras to newer iTunes extras didn't get the newer version and therefore weren't upgraded.

Ah. You nailed it.

My version does NOT have the iTunes Extras, but the 4K version available for purchase does have iTunes Extras.

It must be listed as a separate title.

My HD version:

New iTunes Store version (CAD$) with iTunes Extras:

The weird part though is on my iPad Pro 10.5, it shows up as 4K with Dolby Vision, but without the iTunes Extras.

 

[cmaier]

Yep, and Episode VI has Ewoks, the beginnings of the ”we’ll put cute things in movies just so they can be toys” problem (the original plan was to have the action take place on Chewbacca’s home planet, not the planet of sunglass-eyed stuffies). RotJ is a good movie, but not as good as the original and ESB.

When i was a kid i loved me some Ewoks. I make up for it by always playing as Han Solo, when all the cool kids wanted to be Luke (dummies)

 

[iReality85]

Curious for you and the other poster, does your Star Trek HD version have iTunes Extras icon with it? I've noticed a couple of my HD movies that I redeemed or purchased around the shift from old iTunes Extras to newer iTunes extras didn't get the newer version and therefore weren't upgraded.

I’ll have to check, but if it was I’m pretty sure it’s the old Extras. I have the HD Blu-ray and it came with an iTunes digital download back in the day. In fact, it actually doesn’t even say it’s HD in my Apple TV library; when I play it, it looks very SD, and there is no way to upgrade. I know there is a 4K version of it in the store, because I’ve seen the “Star Trek 4K” packages.

At this point I’ve written it off as a loss, since if they haven’t fixed it after this many years then it likely won’t be fixed at all.

 

[mjharwaz]

Actually, when I go to the iTunes Store, it shows the 4K version of Star Trek (2009) as available for purchase, even though I already have the HD version.



Ah. You nailed it.

My version does NOT have the iTunes Extras, but the 4K version available for purchase does have iTunes Extras.

It must be listed as a separate title.

My HD version:

View attachment 963190

New iTunes Store version (CAD$) with iTunes Extras:

View attachment 963189

The weird part though is on my iPad Pro 10.5, it shows up as 4K with Dolby Vision, but without the iTunes Extras.

Yep. It was a rare occurrence so I didn't fuss too much about having to repurchase the very small handful of movies it happened with. I seriously think I can count on one hand the number of movies with which it happened.

 

[ThatGuyInLa]

Sole reason i bought all my disney films on Vudu. Never understood how Apple wouldn’t let users pay the $30 who found value in it. Plenty did. Just look at my Vudo account!

Looks like i’ll be keeping Vudu as while 4k disney is slowly showing up in iTunes, it’s only for new purchases? Not an in place upgrade? I may have seen $30 in value, but i’m not buying something again just to merge my delivery platform.

**UPDATE**
I see now they ARE being in place upgraded. Still the first half of my post is a valid commentary. Just glad after all these years, this finally sorted.

 

[MacStreamer]

The first Avengers is showing HD for me. The others are DV.

 

[mjharwaz]

Sole reason i bought all my disney films on Vudu. Never understood how Apple wouldn’t let users pay the $30 who found value in it. Plenty did. Just look at my Vudo account!

Looks like i’ll be keeping Vudu as while 4k disney is slowly showing up in iTunes, it’s only for new purchases? Not an in place upgrade? I may have seen $30 in value, but i’m not buying something again just to merge my delivery platform.

Um, yes, someone above you posted a screenshot that shows the upgrade verbiage. Many of us have been posting about our existing purchases getting upgraded. Amazing what you can learn by reading comments before trying to get a fast post in...

 

[JosephAW]

All my TVs are still 720p

 

[kukheart]

Actually, when I go to the iTunes Store, it shows the 4K version of Star Trek (2009) as available for purchase, even though I already have the HD version.



Ah. You nailed it.

My version does NOT have the iTunes Extras, but the 4K version available for purchase does have iTunes Extras.

It must be listed as a separate title.

My HD version:

View attachment 963190

New iTunes Store version (CAD$) with iTunes Extras:

View attachment 963189

The weird part though is on my iPad Pro 10.5, it shows up as 4K with Dolby Vision, but without the iTunes Extras.

View attachment 963192

My Star Trek movies (the new 3) have all been in 4k for quite a while now.

 

[Alan Gordon]

However, not all movies are listed as 4K at this time.

iTunes is missing four Disney films in 4K at the moment. "Iron Man 2", "Iron Man 3", "Monsters, Inc.", and "The Prestige"

This isn't the first time that the 4K label has showed up on Disney movies in the iTunes Store, with previous instances proving to be false alarms. In this case, however, the 4K label has shown up on a wider selection of Disney movies across multiple devices, including the iPhone, Apple TV, and even the Apple TV app on third-party platforms like Roku.

The 4K HDR label was shown accidentally on a couple of promotional banners, like "Aladdin" and "Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 2", but they never showed up as a label in the iTunes Store.

Most of those pictures in the link above show screenshots of titles that were to become available in the (then) upcoming Disney+ launch, just like they did last week.

Disney movies are not showing up in 4K in all countries. In the United Kingdom and Australia, for example, users are still seeing playback limited to HD.

Tomorrow's release of "Mulan" (2020) is showing 4K/Dolby Vision/Atmos tags, so that's a good sign of 4K catalog titles coming there too.

Disney movies are also available in 4K through Disney+ and Vudu.

And Amazon, FandangoNow, and the Movies Anywhere app if you're just talking about on the Apple TV.

Also available on Google TV, Microsoft, DirecTV, Xfinity, etc. if you're just talking about in general.

 

[Bdub12]

Wait... you owned all the Star Wars movies except the original Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back?!? THOSE ARE THE GOOD ONES!

Fair question! I have the BluRay set of the first six films. I bought Jedi digitally for some reason. The others were digital files that came with the UHDs.

And for full transparency, I've owned E4 and 5 on VHS, Laserdisc, DVD, DVD again and BR!

 

[ThatGuyInLa]

Um, yes, someone above you posted a screenshot that shows the upgrade verbiage. Many of us have been posting about our existing purchases getting upgraded. Amazing what you can learn by reading comments before trying to get a fast post in...

I see that now. Thanks for the “polite” nudge Geez. I care so much about posting FIRST. I really do.

 

[YankeeSR23]

EDIT: Definitely looks like a rolling upgrade of some kind... Toy Story 1,2, and 4 have made the change but not 3 yet, as an example.

Weird as for me it had 1-3 in 4K but not Toy Story 4. I’m guessing it’s taking some time to upgrade them all.

 

[subjonas]

Well, with this philosophy, why buy anything? Eventually you will die and it won't be yours either…

Speaking for myself, I have every intention to pass my libraries and all my valuables, both digital and physical, on to my next of kin, hopefully adding a lot of joy to their lives and saving them thousands of dollars.

 

[MacStreamer]

It looks like Disney caved. Apple wanted all 4K titles to be sold at $19.99. Disney wanted $24.99, same as they were priced on Vudu, etc.

I checked some titles on Vudu and their 4K versions of Disney are now $19.99. Looks like a price drop across the board from the Mouse House.

 

[alexhardaker]

Can’t wait to get 4K Disney films in the UK!

Is it just me or has iTunes been removed from iOS settings? Mine now only says App Store. Is it a sign of things to come? Putting iTunes purchase tabs in the relevant apps - the music app & the  TV app?

 

[Alan Gordon]

It looks like Disney caved. Apple wanted all 4K titles to be sold at $19.99. Disney wanted $24.99, same as they were priced on Vudu, etc.

I checked some titles on Vudu and their 4K versions of Disney are now $19.99. Looks like a price drop across the board from the Mouse House.

Apple didn't want all titles to be sold at $19.99. They wanted Disney to price 4K the same price as HD. "Mulan" (2020) is releasing tomorrow for $29.99.

Disney has priced their 4K and HD the same price for pretty much all of 2020 on VUDU, Amazon, FandangoNow, etc. I think the only holdup this year with Apple has been to agree on the free 4K upgrades.

 

[Derek87]

i am finding some odd behavior with films i own.

if i got to my library, none of the movies show up with the 4K HDR badge. but if i go to the store and go the the movies listed using the store banner, i see 4K HDR version available to be played for all of my movies except for The Little Memaid. (which probably won't benefit a lot from 4k HDR)

but the rest of my Pixar and Disney movies have upgraded to 4K HDR whether or not i bought the UHD version or Blu Ray version (all redeemed from discs)

 

[iAdamator]

My Apple TV app has a banner advertising Disney Movies now in 4K on iTunes so I guess the news is out!

 

[Alan Gordon]

i am finding some odd behavior with films i own.

if i got to my library, none of the movies show up with the 4K HDR badge. but if i go to the store and go the the movies listed using the store banner, i see 4K HDR version available to be played for all of my movies except for The Little Memaid. (which probably won't benefit a lot from 4k HDR)

but the rest of my Pixar and Disney movies have upgraded to 4K HDR whether or not i bought the UHD version or Blu Ray version (all redeemed from discs)

The TV app only updates by itself every few days or something unless you make a change to it.

To manually force an update:

• You can sign out and back in of the TV app
• You can purchase a Movie or TV episode (even the free stuff) from Apple.
• You can redeem a digital copy of a movie on iTunes or Movies Anywhere.
• You can purchase a Movies Anywhere supported title from any Movies Anywhere retailer that Apple also offers.

These will update your titles within the TV app.


Also, yes, HD purchases and HD code redemptions should upgrade to 4K.

 

[EugW]

It looks like I'll have to watch Dr. Strange again. I bought that years ago, when the UHD version was not available on disc, so I got the Blu-ray version. As of last year the UHD version came out, but of course being Disney, I still only had the HD version on iTunes. Now it's 4K.

In the US my Last Jedi, TFA, and Rogue One copies are still HD only.

All of those are 4K for me, Canada. However, it's only showing up on my Apple TV 4K. On my iPad Pro they are HD. BTW, I bought most of those movies for $2 as digital codes only.

As mentioned, my Star Trek is showing the reverse, with 4K on my iPad Pro, but HD on the Apple TV 4K. I contacted Apple about this and the support rep is trying to tell me it's a hardware setting on the Apple TV and to contact the hardware side. Not sure if I should bother wasting time on that, since the Apple TV 4K is working fine for all my other 4K titles. Oh well, it looks like I won't be getting Star Trek in 4K unless I pay for it again.

Interestingly, the iTunes codes out there for Star Trek 4K cost a lot more than the codes for Star Trek: Beyond and Star Trek: Into The Darkness, presumably partially because we all got Beyond and Into The Darkness upgraded for free to 4K, while Star Trek didn't get upgraded.

Looks like there's a dedicated section for them in the store now.

//edit: I didn't expand the subtext, but you can clearly see that HD owners are getting a free 4K upgrade.
View attachment 963174

The pricing for Mulan (2020) in Canada is the same as the pricing for Mulan was for Disney+, except that on iTunes it is a permanent sale and Mulan on Disney+ was an extended rental requiring a subscription.

Apple didn't want all titles to be sold at $19.99. They wanted Disney to price 4K the same price as HD. "Mulan" (2020) is releasing tomorrow for $29.99.

Ah, so same pricing structure for Mulan in the US too.