Disney lone major studio holdout for 4K movies in Apple's iTunes
A significant gap in Tuesday's announcement of 4K movies coming to iTunes was Disney, normally one of Apple's closest corporate partners.

Most major studios, such as Universal and Warner Bros., are otherwise onboard for the deal, the Wall Street Journal noted. In a coup for Apple, participating firms have agreed to sell 4K movies for the same price as 1080p copies, and upgrade iTunes users' existing libraries at no extra cost.
Disney offers 4K video on other digital platforms such as Vudu, suggesting that the problem isn't with a lack of material, or a push for people to buy Blu-ray discs.
Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was once in charge of Pixar, which was bought by Disney and turned Jobs into Disney's most powerful individual shareholder. Apple has often highlighted Disney content in marketing, especially in relation to iTunes, and Disney CEO Bob Iger now sits on the Apple board of directors.
One possibility is that negotiations are simply still ongoing, and might even be resolved by the time the Apple TV 4K ships on Sept. 22. The set-top will support 4K and HDR video, and upgrade to an A10X processor like the one used in this year's iPad Pros.

Most major studios, such as Universal and Warner Bros., are otherwise onboard for the deal, the Wall Street Journal noted. In a coup for Apple, participating firms have agreed to sell 4K movies for the same price as 1080p copies, and upgrade iTunes users' existing libraries at no extra cost.
Disney offers 4K video on other digital platforms such as Vudu, suggesting that the problem isn't with a lack of material, or a push for people to buy Blu-ray discs.
Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was once in charge of Pixar, which was bought by Disney and turned Jobs into Disney's most powerful individual shareholder. Apple has often highlighted Disney content in marketing, especially in relation to iTunes, and Disney CEO Bob Iger now sits on the Apple board of directors.
One possibility is that negotiations are simply still ongoing, and might even be resolved by the time the Apple TV 4K ships on Sept. 22. The set-top will support 4K and HDR video, and upgrade to an A10X processor like the one used in this year's iPad Pros.
Comments
go to 3rd party retailers.
Edit: They added Guardians 4K to the movie club but still don't offer Pirates
Meanwhile, your cable company is still probably charging you extra for HD. What's surprising is that your cable company isn't also charging a fee to enjoy your content in glorious color.
VUDU is probably there best retailer aside from Apple, they even give you the option to setup a Disney Anywhere link that shows those movies right on your iTunes account to view on your Apple TV, iPhone and iPad and along with giving you points for every Disney movie you purchase to give you points that you can use towards the purchase of movies.And now that VUDU is now available on the Apple TV it is now a Win! .
Apple does all the hosting and delivery.
A studio simply sends apple a file. Once. Then the money rolls in.
Many holdup must be viewed as the ridiculous greed/power play it is.
A consumer pays pays more for the tv to view 4k. Then they pay again for a device or service capable of 4k. They shouldn't have to then pay even more for every little thing they want to see. It's not costing the studio any more.
With Apple having their own GPU team don't be surprised if they start releasing Apple TVs more often.
to keep these boxes relevant and from being taken over by smart TVs they will need to innovate and cater to gamers who drop $500 easily on consoles.
I believe the next big thing is intergration that top iPhone X camera bar into a device that sits in front of the TV or in the remote allowing people to shop for glasses, play games, play with AR etc. a hit for kids.
I believe a $199 Apple TV is way too cheap. I would have loved a $250 version with a custom gaming chip and better remote.