Movies that I have rented through the iTunes store on my laptop will not appear on apple tv

Welcome to the Apple community.

There is no need to transfer rentals to the Apple TV 3, that need was a requirement of the first generation Apple TV. However any rentals you make on your computer, will need to be fully downloaded, before the Apple TV will see them.

There really needs to be a bit more clarity from Apple on movie rentals in iTunes vs AppleTV. I rented a movie in iTunes thinking that it would then pop up on AppleTV once purchased (similar to purchases of TV shows). Of course it didn't. Not a huge deal but it'd have been a nice note that if you want to watch an HD rental on Apple TV right away, it makes more sense to just rent it directly on Apple TV...vs having people sitting around for an hour waiting while it downloads in iTunes first for Home Sharing. Sorry realizing that this is turning into a bit of a rant. 🙂 I'm just a little surprised how much digging needed to happen to find out what was going on.

iTunes Store: Movie rental frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Thanks for the link. It's one of the first that I hit. If you're coming in as a typical purchaser vs renter there is nothing clear that indicates that the behavior is going to be markedly different in terms of access to content. I understand the difference now (and not being critical of it...I get that content deals will be different) but there should have been a clearer indication of process...like a footnote or flag that indicates that if intention is to watch on Apple TV, that you'll need to do a full download and then activate Home Sharing (since it's not exactly the plug and play that they're suggesting in the faq's). It's no that big of a deal, but seems less 'clear' than I've grown to expect. 😀