So when do you guys think we will ever get 4K streaming on Macs?

[IamTimCook]

As of right now you can't stream any 4K movies from any of the streaming companies like Netflix, Amazon, and to include iTunes.

The only way we can watch the new 4K movies from iTunes is with a 4K Apple TV set top box and a 4K TV.

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

It seems like PC now has the option to view 4K from places like Netflix but not Macs. My new 5K iMac will not play any 4K content minus 4K video on youtube and Vimeo and even then if it's a studio movie it will revert to 1080p.

Just seems weird that I can only view 4K cat videos on my 5K iMac right now. lol

 

[EugW]

My prediction is 2018 if Apple allows it, but only on Kaby Lake Macs or later. if they wait until 2018, it’s essier to exclude 2015 and 2016 Macs in terms of marketing, even though the reason to exclude them is technical. (Kaby Lake Macs have additional 4K DRM support.)

 

[IamTimCook]

My prediction is 2018 if Apple allows it, but only on Kaby Lake Macs or later. if they wait until 2018, it’s essier to exclude 2015 and 2016 Macs in terms of marketing, even though the reason to exclude them is technical. (Kaby Lake Macs have additional 4K DRM support.)

It’s such an annoying situation right now. People who spend $200 for a little box get to view iTunes movies and Netflix in 4K but people who have a $3000 Mac can not. Grrrrrrr

 

[charlituna]

As of right now you can't stream any 4K movies from any of the streaming companies like Netflix, Amazon, and to include iTunes.

seems you can't even download them. I have a 5k iMac and nada.

 

[EugW]

seems you can't even download them. I have a 5k iMac and nada.

Likely because the DRM is not in place.

However, if you have a Kaby Lake Mac, you have the hardware requirements for strict DRM. So if Apple or Netflix (with Apple's help) wants to implement it, it can be done...

...but if they do it, it will likely only be for 2017 iMacs, 2017 MacBook Pros, and 2017 MacBooks. All other Macs would be left out in the cold.

That's why I'm thinking they might do it 2018. They could do it right now, but it takes time to implement, and they are probably in no rush. Furthermore, doing it in 2018 around the time the 2018 Macs comes out lets their PR department spin it in a way as to p!ss off less people. They bring it to the 2018 Macs and the 2017 Macs, but not the 2015 and 2016 Macs. They can't bring it to the 2015 and 2016 Macs anyway most likely, but maybe this looks better in terms of optics.

It's sort of like how they brought HEVC decode support to Skylake Macs but in 2017 along with the Kaby Lake Macs.

BTW, this is one of two reasons why I waited until 2017 to buy a new iMac and new MacBook.

1) Kaby Lake brings full hardware 10-bit HDR 4K decode support.
2) Kaby Lake brings full DRM support for 4K.

The 2015 and 2016 Macs support neither. The Skylake models do support hardware 8-bit HDR 4K decode though.

 

[charlituna]

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

do you still have the link. I'd love to see if there's a footnote about High Sierra etc. cause that would make sense as a reason why right now you can't do 4k on an iMac that should have more than enough hardware to handle it.

 

[EugW]

do you still have the link. I'd love to see if there's a footnote about High Sierra etc. cause that would make sense as a reason why right now you can't do 4k on an iMac that should have more than enough hardware to handle it.

Nope. For 4K HDR 10-bit, the only ones that are consistently powerful enough to do it are the 2017 models, but that's because they have a hardware decoder with full support for this built into the CPU, and Apple supports this. The interesting part is a 2017 Core m3 MacBook can do this in hardware, but the 2016 Core i7 MacBook Pro cannot. Neither can a 2015 Core i7 iMac. In fact, with really complex high bitrate stuff, a 2015 Core i7 iMac cannot even decode it in software. All stuttery.

However, it's not even really about that. It's about the DRM. The only ones with the full DRM built-in (at least on the hardware side, maybe not in the OS yet) are again the 2017 models. None of the pre-2017 Macs have the hardware support for the strict DRM.

So, I think it's likely that Netflix 4K for example will NEVER come to any pre-2017 Mac. The same may be true for iTunes 4K as well. The question is whether or not the 2017 Macs will get it though. They CAN get it, but whether or not that actually happens is up to Apple and Netflix. And if it does happen, we don't know when. I'm guessing/hoping 2018 myself.