Will AppleTV stream my movie purchases from the cloud, or am I forced to rent/buy/download to itunes on iMac and use HomeSharing to watch?

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Will AppleTV stream my movie purchases from the cloud, or am I forced to rent/buy/download to itunes on iMac and use HomeSharing to watch?

I buy movies from iTunes. The purchases are downloaded from iTunes library onto my iMac. Normally I fire up the iMac and use Home Sharing and watch the movie via AppleTV on my television. However, I have noticed that my 500GB drive on my iMac is getting full. I want to delete the movies and just watch them via streaming, similar to the way I watch Netflix. However, when I tested it today, it did not work. I ensured my mac was shut off, turned on the AppleTV and navigated to "movies" and selected the movie that I bought last night from the list to watch today on my lunch break. I was presented with a download progression bar that eventually read that the movie would be ready to watch in 1 hour and 18 minutes. Is iTunes a download type service only with no streaming? Netflix streams instantly when I select a movies. I am trying to free up some space on my iMac by getting rid of some movies, but I do not want to have to wait over an hour every time a choose a movie that does not reside on the HD of my iMac. What is my solution?

AppleTV 2, Apple TV 2nd Generation

Posted on Apr 16, 2014 1:09 PM

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Answer 1

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vazandrew

Level 8

40,348 points

Apr 16, 2014 1:21 PM in response to jaybird1705

First off, it would not be recommended to delete the movies from your Hard Drive. Content can be removed from iTunes at any time, at which you would no longer have access to your purchase in the cloud. Buy a cheap external drive if you want to free up space.

Second, Netflix content will adapt based on your network connection in order to stream instantly. iTunes content is at a fixed rate and needs to load a portion before playback begins. That wait time is entirely dependent on your network.

Verify your current connection using speedtest.net

1080P needs 8mbps

720P needs 6mbps

If on wifi try ethernet

Make sure DNS is set to automatic (settings - general - network)

Go to istumbler.net to get a report of the network, look for signal strength and noise.

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Answer 2

jaybird1705 Author

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Apr 16, 2014 1:38 PM in response to vazandrew

vazandrew,

With regards to buying a cheap external HD--is it your suggestion then to buy this external HD and then move the iTunes media folder that contains the movies to this new external HD? in order to free up the space? If so, is there anything I should be particularly looking for in the external HD besides its size? My iMac is USB 2.0 but has firewire and thunderbolt.

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Answer 3

vazandrew

Level 8

40,348 points

Apr 16, 2014 1:44 PM in response to jaybird1705

Yes.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1751

Size would be a key factor, you can get 2TB drives for very cheap though. USB would be your best bet.

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