Apple Releases iTunes 12.6 With Cross-Device Movie Rental Access

Tuesday March 21, 2017 3:01 PM PDT by Juli Clover
Following a slew of new product announcements early this morning, Apple today released iTunes 12.6, the next major update for the iTunes app on Mac devices.

iTunes 12.6 introduces a "Rent once, watch anywhere" feature that lets iTunes users watch iTunes movie rentals across all devices with iOS 10.3 or tvOS 10.2.

Prior to this update, an iTunes movie was only available on a single device at a time. When a movie rented on a Mac was transferred to an iPhone, iPad, or iPod using USB, the movie became unavailable from an iTunes library until returned to the Mac.

A movie rented on an iOS device or an Apple TV was not previously watchable on other devices and could not be transferred between devices.

The wording of the release notes seems to suggest we're going to see iOS 10.3 and tvOS 10.2 released in the very near future, as the new iTunes update pertains specifically to those releases. We could see new software as soon as tomorrow.

According to Apple's release notes, the update also includes minor app and performance improvements.

The new iTunes 12.6 update can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for free.

Tag: iTunes
120 comments


Top Rated Comments

(View all)
Avatar
BasicGreatGuy
22 months ago

And so, the Windows installer went from 177 MB to 257 MB of more crap from Apple.
NO, thank you!

Oh, the horror of it all.
Rating: 9 Votes
Avatar
BasicGreatGuy
22 months ago
Abou time, Apple. Should have been a standard feature years ago, in my opinion.
Rating: 7 Votes
Avatar
Mlrollin91
22 months ago

You mean 'ONE', and I use that loosely, new product launched today...

And you mean to tell me that you haven't been able to rent a film on one of Apples ecosystem platforms and watch it on its other platforms????? Wow!! Welcome to 2016 Apple.... a bit late, like a few years late, but better late then never!

I seriously thought you could do this with Apple..

But let's not worry as they launched some new case colours today, and did they launch new Watch bands too?. I'm sure they will soon..


I mean you could rent with one device and watch on another. But you could only watch on that one device. You couldn't pause and pick up where you left off on another device without syncing first. This pretty much just moves it to the cloud.
Rating: 6 Votes
Avatar
coolfactor
22 months ago

I truly hope this fixes the iTunes backup connection issue. It's been months.


Bugs that last for months are nothing to Apple. I've had bugs that have been around for years now, and Apple does not seem to care because they are more focused on new stuff rather than fixing what's currently in use.

What a weird day for updates. I kind of expected something a bit more exciting. I was looking at Mac mini's today online and can't believe they are still selling 3-year old computers at full price. That's either a testament to the quality of the products, or an insult to consumers. I'm not willing to invest my hard-earned money into a device that is that outdated. 1 or 2 years, maybe, but 3 years at full price? No thanks.
Rating: 5 Votes
Avatar
Mlrollin91
22 months ago
I truly hope this fixes the iTunes backup connection issue. It's been months.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
apolloa
22 months ago
You mean 'ONE', and I use that loosely, new product launched today...

And you mean to tell me that you haven't been able to rent a film on one of Apples ecosystem platforms and watch it on its other platforms????? Wow!! Welcome to 2016 Apple.... a bit late, like a few years late, but better late then never!

I seriously thought you could do this with Apple..

But let's not worry as they launched some new case colours today, and I'm soooo glad they didn't forget to take the opportunity to launch some new watch bands today.. far more important to innovate with that then creating useful features for your entirely closed ecosystem that other open systems have had for years!! :rolleyes::rolleyes:
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
MrGuder
22 months ago

Yes, that still happens as well. :)

Good Grief.....how hard is it for them to fix that? Sometimes I don't even think they care anymore....Looks like I will be staying on iTunes 12.4.3 all my artists have squares photos and more importantly all my artists have photos. I spent way too much time uploading all my artwork for them to take it away and replace it with bubbles/microphones that are multi colored blanks.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
Relentless Power
22 months ago
This is good news. Having the ability to cross-platform is a feature I have long awaited. Much more seamless this way.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
coolfactor
22 months ago

There's a new MiniPlayer and it's infuriating. WHY would they make it bigger? The whole point is that I want iTunes minimized while still being able to control it. What a dumb move.


Not sure that it's new, looks the same as before. Be sure to drag the edges to resize it. The preview window disappears when you reach a certain threshold.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
avanpelt
22 months ago

What a weird day for updates. I kind of expected something a bit more exciting. I was looking at Mac mini's today online and can't believe they are still selling 3-year old computers at full price. That's either a testament to the quality of the products, or an insult to consumers. I'm not willing to invest my hard-earned money into a device that is that outdated. 1 or 2 years, maybe, but 3 years at full price? No thanks.


At this point, I fully expect that Mac hardware that is more than 2 years old that does not receive a mention of a refresh at the next keynote will be killed off. Selling hardware that is more than 2 years old for the same price it sold for for when it launched is not a consumer-friendly move and it will eventually do serious damage to Apple's computer business if they don't stop it.
Rating: 4 Votes
[ Read All Comments ]