For a good amount of time prior to the debut of iTunes Movie Rentals, a service first announced at this year’s Macworld Expo, Apple optioned purchase-to-own digital film downloads. But in its earliest stage, the store’s movie annex retained mostly dated titles. Or if they were relatively new, they would not be sold on a schedule parallel to their release on DVD.
Today Apple has broken past such delays. For new movie releases published to DVD by studios from 20th Century Fox to Walt Disney Studios to Sony Pictures Entertainment to Universal Studios Home Entertainment, the iTunes Store will offer consumers access to those titles as soon as they are delivered to market as purchase-to-own selections. In a press release issued this morning, in line with the launches of numerous new DVD titles, Apple provides examples of fresh new additions available to buyers, including “Juno,” “Cloverfield,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” and “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.”
Having paid the Movies annex of the iTunes Store a visit following the company’s announcement, we can tell you that all new downloads are in fact priced at a standard $14.99 rate, as stipulated by Apple and its respective studio partners, which, given that such titles are delivered with video quality a touch less the DVD equivalent, does seem a bit too much to ask. But if it is expediency and near-immediate gratification that you seek, perhaps you may find the price premium worthwhile.