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Apple TV And The Mystery Of The Disappearing 4K Movies [UPDATED]

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[UPDATE: Since first writing the article below, I've added more films to the list of iTunes titles that initially appeared in 4K but now seem to have switched to HD]

The launch of the latest Apple TV streaming box just a couple of weeks ago was accompanied by much fanfare about its ability to stream 4K high dynamic range (HDR) movies from iTunes. Already, though, it seems that the latest Apple TV’s 4K dreams are turning into a weird nightmare for AV fans across the globe, as films they initially bought from iTunes in 4K HDR are suddenly turning up only available for streaming in boring old standard dynamic range HD.

In fact, I’m a victim of this sinister turn of events myself. I bought Alien: Covenant in 4K HDR on iTunes on the day the Apple TV 4K launched; in fact, I included a photograph of the film’s ‘splash screen’ that clearly showing 4K and HDR labels in my Apple TV 4K: 13 Reasons You Shouldn’t Buy One article. If I go to playback that film now, though, the splash screen only says it’s HD. There’s no mention of 4K or HDR anywhere. Even though my box is clearly set to output 4K HDR, and my TV is more than capable of receiving it.

Photo: Apple

Switch to the Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them stream that I also bought in 4K HDR on day one of the Apple TV launch, though, and it clearly says it’s still available to watch in 4K and Dolby Vision. So rather than Apple’s title labeling system going wrong, it really does seem as if the Alien: Covenant 4K HDR version is no longer available.

The crazy way the Apple TV 4K converts every source into whatever format you’ve got selected in the video output menu makes it more difficult than it should be to check for certain that Alien: Covenant is indeed now only playing in HD SDR. However, the film certainly currently looks like (averagely) upscaled HD on my 4K TV compared with the much more polished 4K image I was able to watch at launch. Fantastic Beasts, on the other hand, still looks resolutely and beautifully 4K.

Photo: John Archer

Other titles that seem to only be available in HD on iTunes at the time of writing when they were originally available in 4K are Prometheus, Hercules, Ben-Hur, a number of James Bond titles, The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor, Sing, Song To Song, The Dressmaker, The Lost City Of Z, and The Princess Bride.

Making this all the stranger is the fact that a number of titles seem to keep switching between HD and 4K availability. Both Alien: Covenant and Prometheus have flip-flopped between HD and 4K a number of times now, it seems. And users are reporting similar ‘HD one minute, 4K the next’ situations with Baby Driver and some of the Bourne movies.

Photo: John Archer

This suggests, hopefully, some sort of technical fault at Apple’s end rather than the possibility that films you buy in 4K might suddenly permanently turn into HD. But it’s hard to be 100% certain about anything in today’s fractured content world.

Needless to say, I’ve approached Apple for feedback on this weird and frustrating issue and will report back if they have anything to say. Hopefully, their answer won't be that they chose to price their 4K movies at the same level as their HD ones because they might not always be 4K...

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