Well we finally got HD in iTunes today, but there are a few catches.
1. 720p Only – It’s HD, but it’s not 1080p, just in case some of your were wondering. Of course the video should still look significantly better than its SD counterpart, but just keep in mind that’ it’s not technically “full HD” according to some videophiles. (It should be noted that competing HD rental services like the Xbox 360 are also 720p)
2. Only Rentals – It’s also worth noting that you can only rent the HD movies at this time. There are no HD films available for download, and thus far, there has been no mention that they will become available for purchase in the future.
I’m guessing in the long hall these rentals are going to turn a huge profit for Apple and the studios, and eventually this could turn into a “rent with option to buy” feature down the line. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens…but for those of you that have been waiting for a reason to buy an AppleTV. I think that you finally have your reason(s).
5 thoughts on “Some facts about HD in iTunes”
That should be “haul”, not “hall”.
Good info though. My guess that you can’t buy the HD movies is the size of them, they would fill up an AppleTV in no time at all (considering a DVD movie is around 5GB…)
It’s also of note that the 720p resolution is the maximum capability of the hardware in the Apple TV, so there’s no artificial limitation being placed on the HD rentals.
I really like the new AppleTV, shame no video rentals in Canada, but the new features alone are quite nice. I just might have to pick myself up one. Perhaps an HDTV on the side 🙂
What I would like is to be able to download the rentals without paying for it. Only if I want to watch it, should I pay, with the standard rules applying. That’s because back here in good old South Africa, downloads are slow and unreliable.
@Adam: rent movies without paying for them? Only pay if you want to watch it? What else would you do with a movie!? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot..
I’m hoping that they consider doing a 48 hour limit on movies since I don’t always get to watch my movies right away and if I want to be able to take advantage of the “watch as many times as you’d like” option, I need more than 24 hours!! At any rate, I think this is the final push for me to buy an AppleTV!