4K / Dolby / HDR are on the 2017 iMacs!!!

[IamTimCook]

Downloaded the GM earlier today and all my movies still said HD when viewing on my 2017 iMac. I checked again this evening and everything had update to 4K. YEAAAAAAAH! I heard a rumor that the 2017's weren't going to get this with Catalina, even though they were built with the capability to, so I'm pumped.

I would have been super bummed if I was a 2017 iMac Pro owner and they didn't turn on 4K.

In the past when viewing from non compatible devices like my iMac are really old 3rd gen Apple TV it would always say HD only.
3rd gen Apple TV still says HD only, but it never had the ability to be 4K so.....

Now I get this on my iMac

 

[The Phazer]

I don't think that means anything. The same icons are displayed on a rather old Macbook I have that definitely doesn't support UHD playback on the new beta. And the lack of 2017 support wasn't a rumour, it's what the Apple page for UHD on Macs explicitly states.

(I can't play any iTunes titles at all as of Beta 11 fwiw in the TV app.)

 

[IamTimCook]

It very well may be that Apple is unlocking 4K with all devices now? This is only speculation on my part. But maybe Catalina has built in security features that will appease the studios now. Or maybe some studios gave up on that be a streaming requirement?

Either way I didn’t have those symbols until Catalina, and some are updating from HD to 4K as we speak.

 

[alpi123]

Maybe they just started updating their library to showcase that these movies are available in HDR, 4K etc.

 

[IamTimCook]

Maybe they just started updating their library to showcase that these movies are available in HDR, 4K etc.

It was already showing 4K for the past two years for all compatible devices. Incompatible devices would still show HD.

 

[mikeboss]

on my Mac mini (2014) connected to a 1920x1200 LCDisplay it shows 4K / HDR / DOLBY also...

 

[muasachi]

I don't think so, I own iMac 4K 2017 with Catalina installed.
I tried downloading How to train your dragon 3 with HDR enabled on Apple TV app, file size is only 3.81 GB.
And then I tried downloading on my iPhone 11 Pro with HDR enabled, the 1080p HDR size only iPhone is 4.99GB.

Cleary it's not the same file

 

[PBMB]

It very well may be that Apple is unlocking 4K with all devices now?

The only way to know for sure is to try to play such movies on recent Macs. Since you are already on Catalina, have you tried?

 

[The Phazer]

Well, for what it's worth those icons are there on both an ancient Windows laptop and my 2017 Macbook Pro, and both just play back in HD.

 

[IamTimCook]

I don't think so, I own iMac 4K 2017 with Catalina installed.
I tried downloading How to train your dragon 3 with HDR enabled on Apple TV app, file size is only 3.81 GB.
And then I tried downloading on my iPhone 11 Pro with HDR enabled, the 1080p HDR size only iPhone is 4.99GB.

Cleary it's not the same file
View attachment 867685

View attachment 867686

All downloads are always HD even if it's a 4K enabled device. It's been like this from the begining

Itunes will only stream in 4K
[automerge]1570544309[/automerge]

Well, for what it's worth those icons are there on both an ancient Windows laptop and my 2017 Macbook Pro, and both just play back in HD.

It will be interesting to find out exactly what's going on because I still have devices that say HD only. As of last year Apple's documents said if a users devices is compatible then it will show those icons if not then it won't.

 

[muasachi]

All downloads are always HD even if it's a 4K enabled device. It's been like this from the begining

Itunes will only stream in 4K

My point is even though there’s a download HDR version option on iMac 2017, still, it downloads the file on SDR format at 1080p.
Since iPhones only download at 1080p, then the file on both iPhone and iMac 2017 should be identical.

 

[redheeler]

Downloaded the GM earlier today and all my movies still said HD when viewing on my 2017 iMac. I checked again this evening and everything had update to 4K. YEAAAAAAAH! I heard a rumor that the 2017's weren't going to get this with Catalina, even though they were built with the capability to, so I'm pumped.

I would have been super bummed if I was a 2017 iMac Pro owner and they didn't turn on 4K.

In the past when viewing from non compatible devices like my iMac are really old 3rd gen Apple TV it would always say HD only.
3rd gen Apple TV still says HD only, but it never had the ability to be 4K so.....

Now I get this on my iMac

View attachment 867251

Do you get 4K quality if you actually try to play it, or are you just looking at the badges (which could show up on any device, supported or not)?

 

[redheeler]

It very well may be that Apple is unlocking 4K with all devices now?

Definitely not, Apple wouldn't have advertised compatibility with such a limited subset of devices if this were the case and the DRM used for 4K streaming is hardware-based. It'd be great if Apple would push for DRM-free purchased 4K content (as they did with iTunes music over a decade ago), but that's not something the rightsholders will go for easily, especially in the era of subscription services and on-demand streaming. Thus the only way to get DRM-free 4K HDR files playable on any semi-modern iMac is still to rip a UHD Blu-ray disc.

 

[Synchro3]

The TV app is not streaming 4K movies on my Mac Mini 2018, only HD, of course with 4K HDR monitor connected. Bummer.