William Gallagher
Purchased films upgraded to 3D by Apple will sometimes only play in 2D on Apple Vision Pro if ownership was imported through Movies Anywhere — and there doesn't appear to be a fix.
Movies Anywhere aims to end the confusion of which service a user has bought which films from. It presents all the purchased films under one umbrella, and users can also buy from services via Movies Anywhere.
Unfortunately, the idea has hit a hurdle with the Apple Vision Pro. Apple has been highlighting the immersive video in Apple Vision Pro, and key feature is how the company will upgrade purchased movies to 3D.
If a user has ever bought a HD movie on the Apple TV store and a 3D version is now available, that user gets that 3D version immediately and for free.
Unless they bought it from Apple via Movies Anywhere. In that case, there's no free upgrade to 3D — and according to users on Reddit, no way to just buy the film again.
"I was just told that if I have 3D movies in my library that don't play in 3D. Sorry, out of luck," Reddit user From_the_Future wrote after reportedly speaking with Apple Support many times. "They will remove the 'play in 3d' button from that."
It's not clear why there should be any problem playing films purchased via Movies Anywhere, let alone why that problem would affect only some titles. While multiple people have responded to the Reddit thread saying they have the same issue, no one has spotted any connection between the affected titles.
There is a precedent for the problem, however. When Apple upgraded 1080p movies to 4K, there was a similar issue where not all titles bought via Movies Anywhere followed suit.
What the original poster and others have found is that they can't accept certain films don't work, and just buy them again directly from Apple. It isn't clear if this is a bug, or intended behavior.
"There is no solution for me to upgrade or repurchase in 3D either," wrote the original poster. "At this point, I can never watch my purchased movies in 3D according to Apple."
AppleInsider can confirm that buying a film for the second time is not always possible with Apple. If a version is released with new extras, Apple TV will recognize that a user does not have this latest one — but then rather than letting them buy it, will just playback the version they already have.
The solution to that, is to buy the new version of the film in a bundle of movies. This only works when the movie is available as part of a bundle, however.
Apple Vision Pro owners can watch 3D movies via the Apple TV app, and the films come from a range of sources including both Apple and Disney. Ahead of the release of the Apple Vision Pro, Apple began adding a 3D headset icon to movies including:
- 47 Ronin
- Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away
- Everest
- Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters
- Jurassic World Dominion
- Kung Fu Panda 3
- Mortal Engines
- Pacific Rim Uprising
- Sanctum
- Shrek
- Skyscraper
- Tad the Lost Explorer and the Secret of King Midas
- The Boss Baby: Family Business
- The Little Princess
- The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature
- The Secret Life of Pets 2
- Trolls
- Trolls World Tour
Disney+ also has about 40 titles in 3D, including a few Avengers and Marvel movies, and some recent Star Wars titles.
While the Movies Anywhere issue concerns feature films, Apple Vision Pro is also releasing other material in 3D. Apple has announced Alicia Keys's Rehearsal Room, and 3D cameras have been spotted at an NBA contest.
Wesley Hilliard
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
9 Comments
I can confirm this problem is the same as 1080-4k conversions (the same titles) as the studios didn't license the content for upgrade. These are the same titles that didn't upgrade to 4k. There used to be a workaround in the iTunes Store to buy the film twice but in converting to TV Store that went away...there is indeed still a very bad workaround - if (and only if) that film is part of a "bundle" (which you can see if you scroll down in the store when browsing a movie's page on the TV Store)...you can buy that bundle and iTunes will then trigger the 4K/3D upgrade (example of this is Hugo is part of Movies Anywhere program so it will only play in 1080p but if you buy it as part of the Fantasy Bundle you will get access to the 4k/3D version)....
I have email receipts from Apple directly of movies that I’ve bought through them that I don’t have 3D versions of like the original Dr. Strange, and a receipt for the first Trolls movie that according to them I don’t currently own. I do have a good number of 3D movies available but I’m missing about 19 of them and one of them (Jackass 3D) gives me the choice of 2D or 3D but no matter what I choose I only get to watch the 2D version.
It's probably just differences in licensing agreements between buying through Movies Anywhere and directly through Apple.
I've only purchased directly from Apple and there have always been a number of caveats. Example: SD purchases were never upgraded to HD for free BUT some of them are upgraded to 4K for free...but only if you view them on your iPhone. It can be a bit confusing as the 4K section on a 4K Apple TV will show movies that are available in 4K but not all of them will actually be playable in 4K on the Apple TV itself.
Apple doesn't own the rights to the movies and every movie maker/owner is its own Fiefdom might have something to do with it? And they like Apple expect to be payed.
The number will go up in time as they get payed....