The LATimes and Wall Street Journal are both reporting that Apple is working to finalize deals with major movie studios that would allow iTunes customers to stream purchased movies to their devices.
Apple Inc. is negotiating with Hollywood studios for deals that would let people who buy movies from the iTunes Store watch streaming versions of those movies on Apple devices such as iPads or iPhones without manually transferring them, according to people familiar with the matter.
With the launch of iCloud and associated services, Apple has started allowing iTunes customers to freely redownload both music and TV shows to any of their devices.
Even in the weeks leading up to the original iCloud announcement, we'd heard reports that Apple had been in deep negotiations with movie studios to provide just that sort of service. One of the hurdles at the time was reported to be the special exclusivity deals that the studios have with HBO. Those agreements would prevent the sale or distribution of movies while they were being aired on HBO. It's not clear how that conflict will be resolved.
Wednesday July 29, 2026 11:39 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple is developing an all-new operating system that is essentially a mix of tvOS, watchOS, and iOS, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In a report this week, he said the operating system will feature a grid of icons, widgets, and apps, along with customizable clock faces.
The new software platform is intended for Apple's long-rumored smart home hub. With built-in facial recognition,...
Wednesday July 29, 2026 12:03 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple this year acquired Israeli startup Q.ai for close to $2 billion, according to the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone maker Beats in 2014.
This is also the largest known Apple acquisition since the company purchased Intel's smartphone modem business and patents for $1 billion in 2019.
Q.ai...
Thursday July 30, 2026 3:43 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
We're less than two months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a dramatic change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year,...
Can someone explain to me why Apple needs agreements with the production companies to stream movies from their servers to users who have purchased the content? Once purchased, is it not the user's right to consume the media however s/he wants, whether the file is stored locally or remotely and streamed?
This would definitely be awesome. I too would buy more movies from iTunes if this happened.
Royalty laws. And I'm not talking crowns here. Apple's licensing agreement with the aforementioned studios may limit the number of times a certain person is allowed to download a particular movie, or what devices they can view it on. They could also restrict the manner in which it's transmitted. I will admit that I'm only guessing here, but some sort of "fine print" type deal is probably the reason. I do agree that it's ridiculous though, but if you want to point the finger somewhere, point it firmly in the direction of royalties and copyrights.
Can someone explain to me why Apple needs agreements with the production companies to stream movies from their servers to users who have purchased the content? Once purchased, is it not the user's right to consume the media however s/he wants, whether the file is stored locally or remotely and streamed?
Streaming would be cool and all, but I would be perfectly happy with being able to re-download movies like I can re-download apps, music and TV shows. That provides a *great* peace of mind in event of data loss.
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a ~5.5-inch outer display and a ~7.8-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
The LATimes and Wall Street Journal are both reporting that Apple is working to finalize deals with major movie studios that would allow iTunes customers to stream purchased movies to their devices.
