Download Movies From the iTunes Movie Store

Although iTunes morphed into the Music app with the release of macOS Catalina, plenty of Mac users still run iTunes on earlier versions of the operating system.

You need an Apple ID and iTunes on your computer to buy or rent movies from Apple, but if you have both, searching for and downloading movies is easy to do.

Follow these simple instructions to download movies from the iTunes Store.

Locating and Downloading a Movie From iTunes

Although streaming movies is popular, downloading them makes sense when you won't be near a reliable high-speed network connection.

1. Launch iTunes on your computer.

2. Select Movies in the drop-down menu in the upper left corner of the iTunes screen to go to the Movies section of iTunes. Click Store in the top-middle of the screen if it isn't already selected.

3. Browse the available movies or enter a movie title into the search field.

4. When you find a movie that interests you, click its thumbnail image to open an information screen. The information screen contains a description of the movie, an iTunes review, trailers, and iTunes Extra when available. It also includes a button with a price to buy and, sometimes, a button with a price to rent the movie.

   Click the back arrow at the top left corner of the information screen to return to the iTunes Store, where you can select other movie thumbnail images to check out additional movies.

5. When you find a movie you want, click the Buy or Rent button for the movie on its information screen. Sign in with your Apple ID and password if prompted to do so.

6. Click the Download button located in the same area as the Buy or Rent buttons were located. Wait for the movie to download before you go offline. Apple charges your account immediately.

Difference Between Buying and Renting a Download

When you buy a movie at iTunes, it is yours forever, whether you download it or stream it. When you rent a movie, you have a 30-day window to begin watching it, after which your rental expires. However, once you start watching the rental for the first time, you have only 48 hours to finish watching, after which it disappears from your computer. You can watch it multiple times within those 48 hours.

Use the Search Function

If you know what movie you're looking for, you can enter a keyword from the title into the Search box in the iTunes window. When you're connected to the iTunes Store, the Search box returns results from the iTunes store only, instead of from the media that's already in your iTunes library. However, if you enter a keyword, the iTunes Store returns all results with that keyword, including music and TV shows.

Locate and Watch Your Movie

To locate your movie, open iTunes, select Movies in the drop-down menu in the left corner, and choose either Rented or Unwatched to find your movie, The Rented tab only appears when you have a rented movie.

On this screen, look in the upper right corner. If you see a circling icon, the download is ongoing. Wait for it to stop before disconnecting from the network or turning off your computer.

To watch your movie, open iTunes, select Movies in the drop-down menu in the left corner, and choose either Rented or Unwatched at the top of the screen to find your movie. To play it, click the movie thumbnail image to expand the screen and press the Play arrow that appears on the larger movie image.

The movie starts playing full-screen with the usual play/pause, fast forward, fast back, and volume controls. If you want, you can reduce the size of the movie screen.