This was posted 5 years 6 months 26 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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Harry Potter Films in 4K HDR [to Own] $4.99 Each @ iTunes Store

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All Harry Potter films are currently $4.99 each on the iTunes store. All films have been remastered in 4K and Dolby Vision HDR. Playback in 4K and HDR is limited to compatible devices, otherwise the films will playback in HD.
Philosopher's Stone: https://itunes.apple.com/au/movie/harry-potter-and-the-philo…
Chamber of Secrets: https://itunes.apple.com/au/movie/harry-potter-and-the-chamb…
Prisoner of Azkaban: https://itunes.apple.com/au/movie/harry-potter-and-the-priso…
Goblet of Fire: https://itunes.apple.com/au/movie/harry-potter-and-the-goble…
Order of the Phoenix: https://itunes.apple.com/au/movie/harry-potter-and-the-order…
Half-Blood Prince: https://itunes.apple.com/au/movie/harry-potter-and-the-half-…
Deathly Hallows, Part 1: https://itunes.apple.com/au/movie/harry-potter-and-the-death…
Deathly Hallows, Part 2: https://itunes.apple.com/au/movie/harry-potter-and-the-death…

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  • +13

    With DRM, you never truly own a copy of anything.

    • Use TunesKit software to remove DRM.

      • That’s limited to 1980p only, afaik.

    • +2

      Means absolutely nothing in practice. You have far more freedom with where and when you can watch a digital copy of something on multiple devices than being confined to a disc that can only be watched with an increasingly obsolete blu-ray drive.

      • Lol, no. A ripped Blu-Ray will play on almost any device with a screen.

        • +3

          So you have to pay 4 times as much for a blu-ray then illegally remove its copy protection to make it useful? Hilarious.

          • @mr_me450: You could rip the disc straight to an iso if you don't want to remove the copy protections and there'll be various ways to play it.

            Anyway, your point was the iTunes copy provides more freedom. It doesn't. Obviously at this price it's cheaper though and probably more convenient for most.

            • +3

              @Smigit: It does provide more freedom, unless you want to rip it in some way. What's the point of buying something if you have to, at best convert it to something else, or at worse have to, by law, steal it, in order to make it functional?

              • +2

                @mr_me450: What’s the point of buying something when they implement DRM that makes it harder to use the thing you purchased the way you want to?

                When it’s easier and more flexible to pirate, there’s clearly an issue with the legal offerings and they don’t deserve consumers money.

                • @PainToad: What’s difficult about opening your device, going to an app and hitting play? There has never been a point in history where content is this easy to watch. Sounds like you’re just looking for a justification to pirate and not to support content creators.

                  • @mr_me450: Sure, easy, if you watch it exactly the way they want you to watch it. Let’s say in a few years your AppleTV, iPhone, etc. breaks. You are now locked into Apples ecosystem.

                    Meanwhile someone with a ripped Blu-Ray can buy what ever device they want.

                    Imagine if Sony Movies released Blu-Rays that only played on Sony players. There’s not a chance in hell anyone would buy Sony movies anymore. Yet, this is exactly what you’re doing buying digital DRM movies.

                    • +1

                      @PainToad: That argument is outdated, new Samsung and LG TVs are already rolling out with iTunes access built in, with more brands to follow. Movies Anywhere is also rolling out beyond the US later this year so anything you own in iTunes will also be owned on Google Play and other digital services. Meanwhile, brands like Samsung have already pulled out of manufacturing 4K blu ray players. More likely in a few years all TVs will have built in access to your digital library as standard and 4K physical players will be limited to a few select manufacturers for the enthusiast market.

      • +3

        I mean, I like having an iTunes library, but only 2 weeks ago there was a bug which meant that you couldn't stream Harry Potter in 4K, only HD.

      • +1

        If you don't care about 4K HDR, then I guess digital could provide convenience. However, there are still issues:

        • You are taking a chunk of Internet bandwidth at home. Other family members could need to use the Internet while the streaming is happening.
        • Apple TV and being locked in to Apple eco-system. Are we sure Apple iTunes is up 100% of the time. youTube have glitches/outages from time to time.
        • Will Apple lock you out or force you to run certain versions of iOS or Apple TV OS in order to watch them later on?
        • Some blu-ray discs come with digital version and most of those providers have gone pear shaped.
        • Unless you use family sharing, movies are likely to be linked to 1 account. So unless it is a dedicated account just for movies, I doubt it is available everywhere for every member.
        • If you visited a mate's place, are you willing to login to your iTunes account on his/her Apple TV?
        • Streaming - Video compression and potential streaming glitches.
        • Fast forward and rewind is not good on digital version. Chapters.
      • +2

        I think it does mean something in practice.

        Apple can remove a movie if there's a contractual dispute between Apple and the distributor. From memory, such cases have happened with Steam games and Amazon Kindle books. But such cases aren't common.

        No one is going to knock on your door and ask for your physical copy back if such disputes happen.

  • They're all free on Netflix (HD only)

    • +10

      Isn't there a monthly subscription fee that we must pay first?

    • "Free"… that's how they get you!

      • +7

        *Included with your monthly paid subscription 😂 whoops

    • +5

      Recently compared the Netflix HD Harry Potter movies to my Blu Ray Harry Potter discs and the picture quality is like chalk and cheese.

      • +4

        A streamed 1080p movie will always be notably lower quality than a local copy.

      • Sadly iTunes 4k HDR is still a step below 1080p blu-ray too, isn't it? At least in sound quality, picture quality is pretty similar?

        So don't spend the money if you already own these on blu-ray (I think I got mine on a bargain listed here for less than $40).

        • Streamed 4K is a step below disc 4K, it is still far superior to an HD blu-ray. Besides the resolution you are also getting HDR and Dolby Atmos with the 4K stream in most cases.

          • +1

            @mr_me450: it depends on the bit rate.

            i was watching a GOT 4k hdr download (season 1) and the blu ray looked better (especially when i did hdr emulation via the tv)

            • @TEER3X: That makes sense in that case, Game of Thrones wasn’t shot in 4K so that 4K version is likely upscaled anyway.

      • What resolution does chalk play at compared to cheese?

    • $15 to watch them for a month in HD or $15 to buy 3 to watch whenever I want in 4K. I know where my money's going.

      • +3

        I hear Netflix has one or two other shows/movies too…

        • Sure, but the implication by the op was that buying a Netflix subscription to watch Harry Potter was better value. I disagree. Obviously if you already have a subscription and want Netflix to watch its other content then it still offers some great value.

    • are they all on? i thought it was only until 4th one?

      • +2

        Yep all are on Netflix, but Kids profiles can only see 1, 2 and 3

  • +5

    Who remembers this price error deal?:

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/405358

    • Yep that was a pretty good deal ;)
      Don't think it will happen again.

    • I got mine from there :-)

  • +3

    Seems like they can switch to HD only randomly. The article says it's back to 4k now but agree about the digital "ownership". You never really own these type of digital purchases.

    https://www.macrumors.com/2019/05/14/warner-bros-movies-no-l…

    • That's when I got them all :)

    • -1

      That error was resolved in the space of a couple of hours and was confined to a small number of users in the USA and Canada. I'd be more concerned about my DVD collection succumbing to disc rot because the minuscule chances of that happening are still statistically higher than permenantly losing your digital purchases. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_rot

      • +2

        It was more a couple of hours, closer to a couple of day, and also happened to a lot of people in Australia (myself included).

        • That wasn't what I heard in the reports I read about the incident. Either way, personally I have no fear of losing my digital collection. So far it's only held benefits, like most of my HD iTunes purchases being upgraded to 4K free of charge, for example. If that's not for you then that's why other options exist.

  • +6

    How come all these people complaining about drm never show up on deals for movies on the google play store

  • +1

    I bought mine from the US Store for USD $9.99 years ago, and only watched most of them only this year when my two kids were old enough. Watched them over and over.

    While they were also on Netflix, you miss out on the Bonus Content usually expected on DVD/Blu-ray, but are included with iTunes purchases.

    And of course the dill that I am, I also have the box set on Blu-ray…

  • +3

    4k or not the bit rate just wont be there unless the source is also 50gb so not worth it imo.. 5g and gbit nbn might force a shift in 10 years.

  • From the iTunes page:

    "4K
    Playback quality depends on hardware and internet connection. You can watch content in 4K only on Apple TV 4K."

    • That’s been in the OP from the start

  • How do we watch these on my TV if i dont have apple TV?

    • iphone or ipad

      • how would it work for iPhone to TV?

    • Depends what TV you have. Samsung and LG are introducing TVs that let you watch 4K iTunes content without an Apple TV. Otherwise you can plug in a PC, iPad or iPhone but it will only be HD, not 4K.

      • I have a Sony KD-49X7000E 49” 4K

      • Hey mate, I have an LG C8 4K OLED TV.

        Are you saying there is an app I can download on my TV that allows me to stream apple store content?

        Also I have heard that when purchasing media on the iTunes store it will automatically upgrade you to 4K HDR when it releases if it was only available in SD at the time, is this true?

        Anyone else have good experience with iTunes streaming to TV?

        Thanks in advance!

        • +1

          Hey, the update is rolling out for 2019 LG TVs later this year, not sure if the C8 is included? That’s a pretty recent one though so hopefully it’s on the list!

        • +2

          Are you saying there is an app I can download on my TV that allows me to stream apple store content?

          The AppleTV app will be coming to some TV sets this year. So far only ones confirmed are some 2018 & 2019 Samsung models, however there's a good chance it will come to LG TVs, but probably only the 2019 models.

          Also I have heard that when purchasing media on the iTunes store it will automatically upgrade you to 4K HDR when it releases if it was only available in SD at the time, is this true?

          Yes, though you mentioned SD - I don't think you can buy just SD versions on the iTunes store anymore. Any HD versions purchased will be upgraded to 4K when available.

          • @aeon: Thanks, I will be keen to see if they patch this capability to last years fleet (my LG C8) and if not, will it be worth selling and upgrading to the 65" C9.

  • +1

    Finally!

  • +1

    Single Purchase box set is $39.92 as well instead of purchasing individually

  • $4.99 per movie is about as cheap as it is going to get barring a pricing error and with the added convenience of not having to get up and switch out DVDs/Blu-Rays. I get the argument about "owning" when it comes to physical media, however it's no different than games and Steam.

    On a side note, I will finally be able to watch the complete series without the movies disappearing from streaming or only a handful being available at one time.

  • So with the announcement of iTunes closing, how will this be affecting peoples digital libraries and is anyone still going to purchase this post-news?

    • +1

      iTunes app is splitting up, store remains.

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