by Until recently, if you visited Apple’s iTunes Movies Trailers website, you had the option either to stream trailers or download them. Further, once you selected a trailer, you had a choice of viewing resolutions topping out at 1080p. Not any more.
As of late May, Apple removed the option to download trailers. Downloading may still be available for trailers that predate the change, but not for any newly added ones. At the same time, Apple entirely eliminated 1080p trailers, even for streaming. The highest resolution is now 720p.
Options from the iTunes Movie Trailers site no longer include downloading or 1080p resolution.
While some users may be content with just streaming options, I am not among them. I have long maintained an archive of favorite trailers. This has had dual benefits. It allows me to quickly access and view 1080p versions of trailers without requiring an Internet connection or sucking up any bandwidth. And it means I can view these trailers even after Apple removes them from its website.
As is typical, Apple has offered no explanation for its change in policy. However, speculation on the web suggests that the source of the decision was not Apple itself but rather pressure from movie studios. This seems more than plausible to me. The studios continue to show an almost paranoid concern about any sort of potential copying of their material. From the consumer-hostile prohibitions built into HDMI to the user-unfriendly Ultraviolet service, studios remain intent on squashing even the most reasonable “fair use” copying of material.
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