iTunes Movie Rental is a very good service and it works smoothly. All you have to do is visit the iTunes store and find the movie that you want, then pay and download it.
But there are many restrictions and inconvenience in the iTunes movie rentals. Here are the 5 things you don’t know about renting movies from iTunes Store.
1. iTunes Rentals can only play on Apple devices
You can rent movies from iTunes and watch them with your Mac or Windows computer, iPhone,iPad, video-enabled iPod, or on your TV using your Apple TV.
Supported video-enabled iPod models are:
iPod touch, iPod touch (2nd generation),iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod nano (5th generation), iPod nano (4th generation), iPod nano (3rd generation), and iPod classic.
Playing rented movies on Apple TV (1st generation) requires an update to Apple TV software. For latest information, check here http://www.apple.com/appletv/.
2. You only have 24 or 48 hours for watching iTunes Rentals.
Once starting playback movie, you will only have 24 or 48 hours for watching. iTunes movie will disappear when movie expires. It will disappear in 30 days even you didn’t take a glance at the movie.
3. The movie can only exist on one device at a time.
The movie can only exist on one device at a time. Once transferred, the movie will disappear from your computer’s iTunes library. You need to transfer movie every time if you want to change a device. You can’t watch your movie rental conveniently even you are the Apple super-fan who own all the Apple products like iPad, iPhone, iPod, Apple TV and Mac.
4. iTunes 10 or later is required to rent movies on your computer.
iTunes 10 or later is required to rent movies on your computer. iOS 3.1.3 or later is required to rent movies on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. You can not play movie with older system.
Why are there so many restrictions?
Here is the answer: iTunes rented movies, videos and TV shows are very limited due to the DRM protection.
And the last thing you don’t know is how to free yourself from the iTunes rentals restrictions.
5. You can legally remove DRM from rented m4v movie.
There are some DRM removal in the market now. The most popular one is NoteBurner M4V Converter Plus. Because it has both Mac version and Windows version and it works 20X faster than other converter. Plus, it can preserve the video quality.
The following is what I find from its website www.noteburner.com
“NoteBurner M4V Converter Plus is an excellent iTunes DRM removal software which helps you remove DRM protection from both iTunes rentals and purchases M4V. You can legally remove DRM from rented m4v movie, TV shows and music videos and convert them to unprotected video formats for any media player on computer, any portable media players, smart phones, tablets, etc. ”
You may find more information here http://www.noteburner.com/mac-m4v-converter-plus.html
Are there other things we should know about renting movies from iTunes Store?
Item 3 is not quite correct. One can download a movie on an iPhone or iPad and watch it on an Apple TV using AirPlay. I’ve tried it personally and it works like a charm!
https://www.apple.com/airplay/
I’m curious – How is it legal to remove DRM from a rented movie? Surely it is like renting a DVD and not returning it or making a copy.
You don’t know there are DVD ripper tools as well? Free trial http://www.kigo-video-converter.com/video-converter-ultimate-mac/index.html
Yes I realise there are tools to rip DVDs – I have even used them myself. I’m just curious how they can say that you can legally remove DRM from a rented movie. Yes I understand you can remove DRM from a rented movie but how is it legal to do so (as the article suggests)?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting people should or shouldn’t do it, I’m just curious as to the suggestion that it is legal to do so.
If you rent is the movie physically on your iPad?. I’ll be on an airplane can I watch it?
@ Scott Baker
You don’t need internet connection to watch an itunes rented movie. You only need internet to download the movie. The rental can sit there for 30 days if un-opened / unwatched. As soon as you start watching the movie it starts the 24 hour or 48 hour countdown (depending where you live). After this time the movie expires and self destructs.
Quite good, now I can keep my rentals forever.
M4V Converter Plus (http://m4vconverterplus.com/) converts iTunes movie Rentals as well.
If interested, take a try.
If I rent a movie on iTunes will it physically be on my iPad? I’ll be on an airplane,can I watch it?
You don’t need internet connection to watch an itunes rented movie. You only need internet to download the movie. The rental can sit there for 30 days if un-opened / unwatched. As soon as you start watching the movie it starts the 24 hour or 48 hour countdown (depending where you live). After this time the movie expires and self destructs.