Will iTunes rentals play on a 5G iPod? Nope.

The long-rumored iTunes rental service is finally up and running. For many users, the most attractive part of the service (and certainly the only part that really sets it apart from any of the other online rental options) is the ability to transfer your rental to an iPod, iPhone/iPod Touch, or third-generation Nano for playback on the go. Actually, let me rephrase that: your iPod Classic, iPhone/iPod Touch or third-generation Nano. That's right boys and girls -- if you are one of the millions who have 5 and 5.5G iPods with video, no iTunes rentals for you. I suppose that's one way to get people to upgrade.

There was an explosion of applause during yesterday's keynote when Steve Jobs announced rental compatibility with every iPod. Something tells me that if it had been understood that it only included every current generation iPod, the response might have been more akin to the boos that erupted when it was announced that the iPod Touch software update is $20. Update: Evidently, Steve did say "current generation iPods" - in any event, it was not made clear that 5/5.5G iPods would not be compatible. I mean, I for one was not expecting the message below when trying to test out this whole Rentals scheme:

So, why are previous generation iPods incompatible with iTunes Rentals? Pure speculation leads me to believe that the whole authentication-chip for TV-out "update" to the Classic is at the root of the incompatibility. I guess it would just be too much of a risk for Apple (and the movie studios) to allow 5G customers connect their iPods to a TV via an open TV-out cable so that the SD content could then be captured using the analog hole. Because really, circumventing the iPod rental system using TV-out is how people really want to pirate digital media. Not through BitTorrent or breaking the actual iTunes copy protection. No, individuals are going to capture the analog signal from the TV out on their iPod and then convert that back into digital, all for sub-DVD quality movies. Makes perfect sense. (Not.)

Well, at least I now have an actual reason to look at buying an iPod Classic aside from capacity. Still, this and the lack of Front Row rental access is not really doing the best job of convincing me that iTunes rentals have a place in my digital life.

Update: As some of the comments have pointed out, the reports about the iPod Classic's only working with certified Apple TV-out cables might be untrue. I don't have an iPod Classic so I can't verify it one way or another. Again, that was just pure speculation on my part for some logical reason for 5/5.5 G incompatibility. Update 2: After looking at iLounge's dissection of the AV cable, I feel confident that an authentication chip is in fact required for the new models. Is this related to the iTunes rentals? That remains a mystery.

Other comments have raised the question of the quality of the rentals being too high for the 5G iPod. This I can unequivocally state is NOT true. As a test, I went ahead and bought "Chuck & Buck" from iTMS. Not only was the file size identical (1.06 GB), iTunes itself saw no difference between buying the movie and renting it. I was able to transfer the newly purchased copy of the film to my iPod with absolutely no problem. This is NOT a matter of hardware not being capable, it is a decision for whatever reason, not to update the software on older generation devices to work with the new rental system.

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The long-rumored iTunes rental service is finally up and running. For many users, the most attractive part of the service (and certainly...

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Carolyn

I have the 8 G IPOD just one year old and the rental movies I paid for and downloaded will not transfer to my IPOD. It doesn't say anything...there is just no "move" button anywhere to start the transfer. Grrr.... I really wanted these movies on my IPOD for atrip I'm taking. The bought movies transfer just fine. Anyone have any solutions?

March 02 2008 at 9:58 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Garrick

I'd jump on the AppleTV if they had NBC back. If they can offer a replacement for cable, I'd go for it. Unfortunately, they have lost NBC and Universal, so several of the shows I like are not available on AppleTV (The Office, Battlestar Galactica, etc). I'm also a bit annoyed by the idea that I can't use my relatively new 5G iPod to take a movie from my home office to the bedroom dock to watch a rental. These are reasons that the door is still wide open for piracy.

January 29 2008 at 3:57 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Kahli

this is darn stupid.if it supports it (tech wise,i mean) why not? apple made a lot of mistakes this time around. hopefully they'll realize this and correct it. the new apple tv upgrade was cool,still doesn't make me want to get one. i could pay 20 dollars more and get an iPod to do the same thing and be able to take it w/ me.

January 29 2008 at 2:55 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

jeb654

For once in my life I'm rooting for the Class Action sharks to go after a company. I have a 5th Generation that I just got for Christmas; I won't be upgrading anytime soon. I feel badly ripped off by Apple.

January 26 2008 at 3:49 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Mark

One may find it ok for a product to be outdated in less than a year. I for one expect more. Apple has hit a home run in the last few years. A stock price of almost 200 dollars a share. 13 billion liquid. I can't believe they would throw it away by alienating their customer base. No one should be happy there less than a year old ipod 5 g doesn't allow video rentals.... Also, does anyone think Apple wasn't aware of this.... They are probably just sitting by and seeing how upset we will actually get........ It is a question after reading some posts cause some don't seem to care when they are forgotten.........

January 20 2008 at 2:57 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Eric Southern

There is a petition up to force Apple to update the firmware so our 5G Video iPods can use the rental service. Sign it and forward to your friends!

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ipodrent/petition.html

January 19 2008 at 3:40 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

vandil

Its unfortunate that the only video-capable iPods that cannot use rentals are the very same iPods that launched the market for Apple's video sales.

Considering I can *still* buy a movie and play it on my iPod, but I cannot rent the same movie (same file size) because of DRM... Apple just lost a chance to make money from my household.

Currently, my wife and I almost never rent movies because Netflix queues take too long and local shops never have movies we want in stock. Not to mention the hassle of returning a physical disc. We've wanted digital rentals from iTunes for a while, but alas.

Apple's going to lose a lot of cash from us.

January 18 2008 at 2:49 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Chris C

"That's right boys and girls -- if you are one of the millions who have 5 and 5.5G iPods with video, no iTunes rentals for you."
Why?
You do not need ANY iPod to to rent movies.
You can watch them on your computer or AppleTV.

January 18 2008 at 1:58 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

peter

Disappointed here too, I have no reason to upgrade my 5G. It works well, I have games I don't want to re-purchase and want to rent videos but I'll just go with another option once this breaks. Looks like Archos vs. iPod Touch by the time I'm ready to purchase.

January 18 2008 at 12:41 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Tony Santos

Peter,

I agree with you 100% on the DRM thing. There is very little doubt in my mind, with all the problems the new iPods had using old TV out cables, that the "compatibility" issue is actually a DRM issue. There really isn't an effective way (at least not right now) to implement a rental system using digital copies of content without using DRM. Ultimately I think digital rentals are the future of DRM. I think we'll see it go away with price increases ( or more competition like it has with the opening of the Amazon MP3 store) for sales of content, but it's the only way to make a file expire, which is the digital equivalent to having to return a DVD. (or video if you still roll that way). Welcome to the future?

January 17 2008 at 11:23 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply