It shouldn't really stop anything from playing. SD content should be let straight through, and HD content should be degraded to SD on the fly.

There shouldn't be any difference at all. HD is not worth more than SD, certainly not from a piracy point of view. This is the content industry pretending there is more value in HD than there actually is, and overreacting to protect it in an ineffective and batshit insane manner.

Apple is complicit in all this as well, they implemented the system for iTunes, they sell the content and make some amount of money on it, and such content makes their own hardware more attractive.

ascii:

HDCP doesn't necessarily connect to the resolution, though. For that, you need to have the Image Constraint Token (ICT), and even many Blu-ray movies don't use that.

Based on the comments so far, I'm sure some of you will think that I've "drank the kool-aid," but I don't really have a problem with this. Sure, I wish there was no such thing as DRM; but I'm also practical enough to understand why it's necessary. Just think, if all of those greedy music thieves (surely none of us here) had never started the mass theft of music during the Napster days, perhaps we wouldn't be dealing with this mess now. Yes, media companies are pure evil, etc, etc; but we've demonstrated that we can be trusted either.

So it's here to stay. Apple had to add it to the video output sooner or later. There really was no choice in the matter except to give up on video sales altogether. And I'm sure those of you who own Apple stock wouldn't like that. To me the REAL mistake Apple made was not telling us it was there so we could make informed buying decisions.

I figured a mistake had been made, and this update seems to confirm that. Apple hadn't intended the DRM to be enforced...yet. Sounds like they are laying the ground work for HD movies on Macs, not just on AppleTV. And since I use a mini as a HTPC, I would welcome that and would purchase an updated mini with DisplayPort. I assume if/when Apple announces HD movies on Macs, they will need to also educate us on exactly what the hardware requirements will be (ie, will HD movies play on my DVI-based MacBook Pro?).

Apple should be careful about trying the patience of their customers. Once bitten, they are difficult to win back.

That was quick.

Where is it? its not on their downloads page, it isn't available via the updater either? have they pulled it? is it only available on the newer platform?

kaiwai, if you mean the new Unibody MacBooks to be the "newer platforms", then yes, it is only available for them, as they are the only Macs with DisplayPort and therefore HDCP.

Or do you mean something else by that?