Apple Movie/TV purchases Quality Info Page - Clarity please?

HaroldWhistler

I received some Apple Gift Cards and used some of it to purchase an Apple product (the new Apple TV 4K). Very happy with it and it's super super quick to watch TV channels via the Internet. Only a one off cost. 
There is a surplus of Gift cards which I am trying to use for purchasing Movies or TV shows to be able to watch. Whilst I like physical media, I have the Gift Cards which can be used on the Apple Store and am interested in having the convenience of the digital version to watch on my Apple device. 

My question is regarding the quality of the Movie/TV. I see mixed answers online. It does appear that with Apple, one's purchases automatically are available to stream in the maximum quality available for that particular title rather than buying a particular quality. So there is just one price. If a title is in HD, it will be HD. If that specific purchase edition gets upgraded to 4K, you can now watch it in 4K. And if a purchase says 4K on the title page, it will be 4K. So far, simple enough.

In the iTunes app about a week ago, you could clearly see that an Info page for a Movie you search for shows a logo of either "4K" or "HD" or else just "CC" for SD. Furthermore, an individual movie displayed 4K if you click/tap on a title individually or whether you tap on that title within some type of Collection/Boxset (which might be better value for money).

What is confusing me is that since a recent software update, the iTunes Store is only for Music now. All other purchases are via their new "TV" app (which can also be used for their Apple TV+ service which I don't use). The trouble is unlike the iTunes Store, it seems to show slightly different results for the same movie.

To give just two examples.

In the iTunes app about a week ago, the movie "Star Trek: The Voyage Home" showed a clear 4K label if you search for it specifically. Additionally, the movie showed a 4K label if you clicked on a "Star Trek: 10 movie Collection", and then tapped upon the specific movie within the Boxset. 

Similarly, in that same iTunes app, if you clicked on "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol", the individual title showed "HD". However, if you clicked on that specific movie within the "Mission Impossible: 6 movie collection", the same film shows a 4K label on its info page. 

Now in the case of the latter boxset, it is actually a pretty good price for 6 films. However, for the Star Trek boxset, it is more expensive to buy a boxset, if you only wanted to buy say 3 or 4 films.

Now after the software Update, you can only use the Apple "TV" app for purchases or apparently the Movies app if you use the TV 4K box. 

The trouble is now - as of writing - the same first example yields a different result:

1. "Star Trek: The Voyage Home" shows a clear "HD" label when searching for it specifically within the new App (and also mentions Paramount Plus). Whereas in the Boxset/Collection, it shows a 4K label when tapping on that specific movie. 

Apple Support doesn't seem to answer much and just directs you to their generic Help page. On the old iTunes app, it included Customer Reviews (which I cannot see anywhere on the new TV App) which often mentioned reviews by people saying that a movie like the Dark Knight was "in 4K despite the HD label" (although today the film either individually or in a Boxset displays a clear 4K label). 

Does anyone have any experience with Apple purchases? Is this just a case of their Info pages not being the exact case or up to date? Or have they basically in this particular case offered only the Boxset version 4K?

I would appreciate clarity from those who use the Apple store. The virtues or vices of digital versus physical media is not relevant to answering my question regarding using my Gift Card. I don't want to use any Paramount Plus or other subscription based service in this particular case. 

I just want to be sure before I click buy and use up the Apple Gift card since I don't want to go through hassle of refunds etc etc. Many thanks in advance.

DullGreyGuy

For a start CC isn't for Standard Definition, it stands for Close Caption which is the US name for subtitles. 

The TV app is a bit of a pain because it not only searches the Apple offering but the offerings of other streaming services you have installed/available on the device. Therefore if you search for the Star Trek movie it brings back both Apple's offering and Paramount+ which is available via the TV app. 

The problem is that Paramount+ is streaming in HD whereas Apple is renting/selling in 4K and DV, in the TV app given it has one listing covering both options it shows the lowest standard available. Streaming services don't have boxsets and so these tend to be limited to Apple only (assuming you don't have Prime Video installed) and so tend to show what you'll get if you buy from Apple. 

I'm not at my AppleTV at the moment but certainly looking on my iPhone its still possible to use the old iTunes Store app which only searches Apple's offerings and so shows the film as being in 4K as it doesn't consider the Paramount+ version. 

HaroldWhistler

DullGreyGuy said:

For a start CC isn't for Standard Definition, it stands for Close Caption which is the US name for subtitles. 

The TV app is a bit of a pain because it not only searches the Apple offering but the offerings of other streaming services you have installed/available on the device. Therefore if you search for the Star Trek movie it brings back both Apple's offering and Paramount+ which is available via the TV app. 

The problem is that Paramount+ is streaming in HD whereas Apple is renting/selling in 4K and DV, in the TV app given it has one listing covering both options it shows the lowest standard available. Streaming services don't have boxsets and so these tend to be limited to Apple only (assuming you don't have Prime Video installed) and so tend to show what you'll get if you buy from Apple. 

I'm not at my AppleTV at the moment but certainly looking on my iPhone its still possible to use the old iTunes Store app which only searches Apple's offerings and so shows the film as being in 4K as it doesn't consider the Paramount+ version. 

@DullGreyGuy

Thank you so much for the information, I really appreciate it!

Yes, I concur that the TV app is rather confusing. One would hope that in a future update they can have a further information page regarding any title regarding any already owned item or on what exactly you would get if you purchase via the app. At the very least have a separate Apple Store infographic with the details of what is on Apple. I remember that the Beverly Hills Cop movies are in 4K on Apple after buying the Boxset, but the infographic for each film if you searched for each one separately said HD probably referencing what was on Paramount Plus. 

I saw the same thing you see on the iTunes Store app on an iPhone about a week ago which clearly outlined 4K or HD for anything you could purchase and was absolutely clear. Since a recent iOS update however, the iTunes app is saying "iTunes Purchases have moved to the TV app" on the tab for TV Shows or Movies tabs and the Search yields only Music results for any search (i.e. no results for TV shows or movies). 

Which leads to then looking at items in the TV app which as you say seems to now give a description based on what is on streaming services rather than what Apple offer often saying HD on an individual title unless I click on a Boxset, and then tap on the same individual item within the boxset, where I can then see it saying 4K.

So to clarify, if the same item that I tap on in a Boxset shows 4K and the option to purchase the individual item is there (having tapped on it from the list of movies in the Boxset) - e.g. again as an example, if I click on Star Trek: 10 movie collection and then tap on the film, Star Trek: The Voyage Home it displays 4K - do you get it in 4K? Whereas if I search for that same title by itself, the movie shows up as HD. Or do I definitely need to buy a Boxset to ensure I get it in 4K?

The reason is that in some cases, sure I'd buy a Boxset at the right price. But occasionally, people might prefer a few movies rather than an entire set and it all depends upon the price. I really wish they'd kept the iTunes app because it looks like the iOS updates are phasing it out. I wouldn't mind if the TV App had a separate Store tab to use for Search and purchases. 

Many thanks in advance. Genuinely appreciate the advice!