macgabe

Q: Moving rental film from iMac to MacBook

Like many, apparently, I was perplexed that a rental film I downloaded on my iMac iTunes didn't appear automatically on my MacBook Air.

 

After much investigation, I found I could transfer the film, by cable, from iMac to iPhone:

 

plug in iPhone > open iTunes on iMac > select iPhone in sidebar > select movies menu > rental film should appear at top > move button

 

and then rinse and repeat from iPhone to MacBook Air.

 

My question: is there an easier way of doing this?

 

All macs and devices are recent models, authorised, on one Apple account and on wifi. I have no Apple TV.

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012), OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Apr 1, 2014 11:49 PM

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Q: Moving rental film from iMac to MacBook

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  • by Imp68,

    Imp68 Imp68 Apr 2, 2014 4:37 AM in response to macgabe
    Level 4 (2,633 points)
    Apr 2, 2014 4:37 AM in response to macgabe

    "I was perplexed that a rental film I downloaded on my iMac iTunes didn't appear automatically on my MacBook Air."

     

    It's not supposed to.

     

    Rent the movie on the device you want to watch it on in the first place.

  • by macgabe,

    macgabe macgabe Apr 2, 2014 4:59 AM in response to Imp68
    Level 1 (14 points)
    iWork
    Apr 2, 2014 4:59 AM in response to Imp68

    "It's not supposed to"…

     

    And yet, on its help sheet, Apple goes out of its way to say one can transfer rental movies between devices unlimited times within a month. And it has written the code to make it possible.

     

    So it's reasonable to think Apple believes we are supposed to be able to transfer rentals if we want to. They've even negotiated the rights with the film studios to make it legal.

     

    In addition, purchased movies, appear automatically on all my devices no matter which I download them on to. In fact in their keynote speeches Apple have promoted the ability to transfer movies and music from one device to another.

     

    Apps, podcasts, music, purchased films, photos, bookmarks, web pages and a dozen other media, are all automatically synced wirelessly between devices so it is perplexing that I need to use a cable, twice, for rented movies.

     

    Your comment is less than helpful.

  • by Chris CA,

    Chris CA Chris CA Apr 2, 2014 4:36 PM in response to macgabe
    Level 9 (79,451 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 2, 2014 4:36 PM in response to macgabe

    macgabe wrote:

     

    Like many, apparently, I was perplexed that a rental film I downloaded on my iMac iTunes didn't appear automatically on my MacBook Air.

    Who else is perplexed?

    You can only have iTunes rentals on one device at a time. It won't automatically download to everything you own.

    -> http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1657

    "You can move the movie between devices as many times as you wish during the rental period, but the movie can only exist on one device at a time."

  • by Imp68,

    Imp68 Imp68 Apr 2, 2014 6:18 PM in response to macgabe
    Level 4 (2,633 points)
    Apr 2, 2014 6:18 PM in response to macgabe

    "Your comment is less than helpful."

     

    And yours is less than informed.

     

    Don't confuse rentals with purchases.  See Chris' article.

  • by macgabe,

    macgabe macgabe Apr 3, 2014 2:52 AM in response to Chris CA
    Level 1 (14 points)
    iWork
    Apr 3, 2014 2:52 AM in response to Chris CA

    Who else is perplexed?

    No time to list all the similar threads on this forum and others, since all I want to know is how best to move rentals from one computer to another. Maybe try searching this forum for similar queries?

     

    You can only have iTunes rentals on one device at a time.

    You can move the movie between devices as many times as you wish during the rental period, but the movie can only exist on one device at a time.

    I understand that, but thanks for reiterating it, it may clarify the policy for others. All I want to know is what is the best way of moving rentals from one computer to another.

     

    The FAQ you linked to gives the rules for moving rentals, but does not tell you how to do it. There is another Apple helpsheet somewhere, which I have read and used, which shows you how to do it by plugging in the cable and using "move" in iTunes. But I came to this forum wondering if there might be a faster, simpler way of doing it. Maybe wirelessly or direct from computer to computer. Since the helpsheet only addresses how to move from computer to phone and vice versa, not from computer to computer. The term used is in their rules is "devices", which in this context does seem to include desk computers and laptops.

     

    I know I can do it via an iPhone by plugging the iPhone first into one computer and then the second. This seems likely a very 20th century way of doing things. It may be the only way, and indeed is starting to look like that from the lack of responses. But if there is another better way I'd like to know. Simple as that.

     

    Not an attack on Apple, from whom I have purchased thousands of dollars of products per year since the 1980s, and with whom as a company I am generally very happy. Not an attack on the forum. Not even an attack on the unwieldy transfer mechanism which may well be a product of stringent licence agreements with content providers. And certainly not an attack on Apple's rules for rental transfers. Just a simple request for information about a very specific technical issue, how to move rentals from one computer to another, which will undoubtedly be of interest to many others searching the forum.

     

    I know that I can purchase a rental directly from iTunes on to any device. That seems obvious and is not helpful once you have a rental on one computer and want to move it to another computer.

  • by dgmaccoon,

    dgmaccoon dgmaccoon Aug 5, 2014 2:29 PM in response to macgabe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2014 2:29 PM in response to macgabe

    Amen. Thank you all for the conversation. I too am frustrated that there's not an easy way to move a rental from one computer to another. It seems a little kludgy to have to transfer to an iphone and then transfer to another computer that way.

  • by MrTico,

    MrTico MrTico May 3, 2016 10:21 PM in response to macgabe
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 3, 2016 10:21 PM in response to macgabe

    So I was looking to do this and I usually rent my movies on my  TV so I've never had to do this before.   But yes there is an easier way for this.  If your Mac supports Airdrop you can look for the file in Finder and from there share through Airdrop from one mac to the other.  On the new device just Open with... iTunes and it will show up under Rentals on the Movie Tab. 

  • by nodtmf,

    nodtmf nodtmf May 6, 2016 5:42 PM in response to MrTico
    Level 1 (14 points)
    May 6, 2016 5:42 PM in response to MrTico

    I look forward to trying this tonight. For those who question the original use case, here is my use case:

     

    Firstly I am talking about Rentals.

    Home DSL line is 4mbps best case, it takes three hours to download a HD movie, not possible to stream. Using my Mac at work it takes 15 mins to download. I would like to make a some rental purchases at work and then transfer them to Home Mac. That way wife can watch without requiring my work computer.

     

    For tonight, I will watch from work computer via ATV4 and when done I will try the Airdrop and see if that works (since there is a 24 hr window for viewing). Kinda afraid to do the transfer first :-)

  • by nodtmf,

    nodtmf nodtmf May 9, 2016 11:12 AM in response to nodtmf
    Level 1 (14 points)
    May 9, 2016 11:12 AM in response to nodtmf

    Reporting back, copying using Airdrop does copy the file (to your downloads), I then moved it to iTunes but it will not play. Seems went you rent and download on movie on one computer you cannot move it to another computer and play it from that computer...at least I couldn't figure out how to do it.

  • by Chris CA,

    Chris CA Chris CA May 9, 2016 12:48 PM in response to nodtmf
    Level 9 (79,451 points)
    iPhone
    May 9, 2016 12:48 PM in response to nodtmf

    nodtmf wrote:

     

    Reporting back, copying using Airdrop does copy the file (to your downloads), I then moved it to iTunes but it will not play. Seems went you rent and download on movie on one computer you cannot move it to another computer and play it from that computer...at least I couldn't figure out how to do it.

    You have to sync it using iTunes.

    -> https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201611