4K movies get downgraded to regular HD on iTunes — and no one knows why

By Chris Gates May 14, 2019

If you’re planning to watch some of your favorite movies in 4K on iTunes any time soon, you might be out of luck for the time being. Reports from iTunes customers on Twitter and various support forums indicate that a number of high-profile movies have been switched from 4K “ultra” resolution to regular HD — and nobody seems sure why.

Initially, reports from outlets like 9to5Mac indicated that the affected titles all came from Warner Bros., and included big hits like the Harry Potter series, Fast & Furious 6, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and both Matrix sequels (which is a bummer for anyone looking to catch up before the rumored Matrix 4 arrives). After more investigation, it looks like affected films come from a number of studios, including Columbia, MGM, and 20th Century Fox. It doesn’t matter if you already own the movies in 4K or if you have yet to purchase them — at the moment, these titles will play in 1080p HD only.

Apple customer service told one user that the problem was on Warner Bros.’ end, although the addition of other studios implies that the change is either a bug or a policy shift on Apple’s side. Interestingly, forum users have noticed that the list of affected titles varies across different regions. Some customers report that on the Apple TV 4K device, many of the formerly 4K films still show up under their list of 4K movies, hinting that this is only a glitch or temporary change.

Apple began offering 4K films through iTunes in 2018, alongside the release of the Apple TV 4K streaming box. Unlike other services, iTunes sells 4K movies for the same price as their HD equivalents, and upgraded all previously purchased HD movies to 4K HDR free of charge.

If your movies are eligible for the Movies Anywhere program, which lets you consolidate your film library from across different streaming platforms, you’ll still be able to watch them in 4K via that service, provided that you have compatible hardware and a 4K-capable display. If you don’t, you really should. With four times as many pixels as a regular HD screen, 4K resolution makes everything look better. Once you go 4K Ultra HD, you’ll never go back.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributor

Christopher Gates lives in Los Angeles, CA and writes about movies, TV, video games, and other pop culture curiosities. In…

Audio / Video

TCL’s giant 115-inch QM89 is the world’s largest 4K mini-LED TV

The 115-inch TCL QM89 television.

If you're going to unveil the world's largest mini-LED TV, CES 2024 in Las Vegas seems like an appropriate venue at which to do it. The honor goes to TCL's new QM89 -- an absolutely massive 115-inch 4K, quantum dot mini-LED TV. TCL announced the QM89 along with the rest of its 2024 TV lineup and its 2024 soundbars.

First Look at TCL’s 115-Inch QM89 TV | The World’s Largest Mini-LED TV at CES

Audio / Video

What is 4K? Everything you need to know about 4K Ultra HD

A Roku 75-inch Class Plus Series QLED 4K Smart Roku TV hanging on the wall.

High-definition content has been a TV mainstay for more than two decades now. From broadcasted cable stations to streamable movies and shows from streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+, 1080p HD is no longer the golden standard for modern TV models. It kind of feels like a no-brainer at this point, but what you want to invest in these days is a 4K TV, as most of the best TVs available are.

4K media is also not as rare as it once was either. In fact, most new films, shows, and even video games are now engineered from the ground up with a 4K screen in mind. And not to worry if you don’t currently watch any 4K content, because most 4K TV sets do an excellent job at upscaling lower-res sources. So is it worth it to step away from your HD past in favor of a higher pixel count present and future? Let’s explore the world of 4K a little further to find the answers we seek.
What is 4K Ultra HD?
In a nutshell, 4K Ultra HD is the name assigned to a screen with a resolution that's four times that of a Full HD (1080p) TV. That translates to 8 million pixels being crammed into the same space in which a Full HD TV fits just 2 million -- achieved by making each pixel four times smaller. The result for the average viewer? A clearer image, more accurate color, and with most new TV sets, High Dynamic Range, or HDR (more on that in a bit).

Audio / Video

The hidden costs of buying a 4K TV are way higher than you think

Toshiba 55-inch-class C350 series 4K smart Fire TV on a gray shelf and light gray background.

There’s never been a better time to buy a 4K TV. Prices have continued to drop even as screen sizes and smart TV features have continued to grow. But now that 4K TVs are priced within reach of almost anyone who wants one, are you actually going to be able to enjoy all of the extra detail and picture quality that 4K promises? The answer is, sadly, not as often as you expect, and not without some considerable extra investment over and above the cost of the TV.

Modern 4K TVs are packed with a lot of impressive technologies that can make picture quality look amazing, no matter what you’re watching. With upscaling driven by complex algorithms and often aided by AI, even watching an old DVD on a 4K TV will look way better than it did on an HDTV from 10 years ago. But to truly get the best possible results, you need access to native 4K content, preferably with some flavor of HDR, like Dolby Vision, HDR10, or HDR10+.