Apple iTunes content throwing HDCP flags on new MacBook / MacBook Pro

Man, you just can't win these days. So Apple offers up an energy-efficient, forward-thinking Mini DisplayPort on its latest MacBook / MacBook Pro, and now users that are still rocking displays sans HDCP-compliant HDMI / DVI ports are up fecal's creek without a paddle. Apparently select content in the iTunes Store is laced in HDCP, which isn't all that unexpected in and of itself; the problem comes in when you realize that the new unibody machines don't offer a VGA / VGA-to-component output, meaning that you have to connect it to an HDCP-compliant display if you want to see anything. We know, one word in particular keeps coming to mind to describe this fiasco: awesome.

[John @ Nov 17th 2008 10:21PM]

I guess they'll all just have to buy 30" Apple displays now...

[Pip @ Nov 17th 2008 10:24PM]

Yeah... that's DRM for you...

Like always, people who play by the rules get hurt, while the pirates crack their ways out of it...

[zoona @ Nov 17th 2008 11:53PM]

*Shrug*. No need for a new display. Instead of buying iTunes content, just use pirated content on a non-apple made player instead. Problem solved. Thanks Steve for encouraging those who are fearful of pirating to try new things. I would've never learned how to rip region codes off of DVDs and how to burn region free iso's if I hadn't owned a Macbook while trying to play my legitimate DVDs that I bought while traveling. Thank you again Apple!

[pdmark @ Nov 18th 2008 1:15AM]

http://www.hdfury.com/

Sony will just keep changing the HDCP key used every time they crack it...

[Shinigami @ Nov 18th 2008 1:37AM]

Okay, people will buy Apple displays. And what is going to happen next?
"This track cannot be played because a speaker system that is not authorized to play protected content is connected."

[no_one @ Nov 18th 2008 4:09AM]

Vista is best for Blu-ray drives and associated high-def movie HDCP connection,
that was one of the reasons Vista was made, yeah Vista introduced this HDCP feat.

Macs are only for the low-def DVD suckers now,
who would be crazy enough to base their home HTPC on a lousy Mac anyway.

[nikster @ Nov 18th 2008 4:18AM]

@zoona: You should be thanking the movie industry, particularly the **IAA for this mess. Undoubtedly, they said to Apple either you implement our idiotic and non-working copyright schemes, or you don't sell our movies. Which one will it be? I think the dialog box should be more clear on this, actually. Blame where blame is due.

Other than that I am completely with you. I download movies via torrents. I'd be happy to pay fair prices for series and so on in the iTunes store but what's the point if I can only see it on industry-mafia approved hardware? I don't think these copyright schemes are going to be around in a couple of years so I have no intentions of investing even one dime in them.

A few years ago, I bought two albums on iTunes. Last year, they didn't play anymore because they had been copied on to 5 machines. I didn't give these to anyone, but I did change computers quite a bit. So what am I to do? Easiest to just get said albums DRM-free from the internets. I mean, sure I could probably go through customer service, and if I kept my iTunes account alive, they'll probably help me. But why not solve the problem once and for all?

[Buis @ Nov 18th 2008 7:03AM]

which you can only connect to your unibody MB(P) with the $100 adaptor, which is/isn't shipping...

Again: solution: DONT BUY

[barry99705 @ Nov 18th 2008 7:00AM]

@ nikster

You do know you can reset that count in iTunes right?

[greenlight @ Nov 18th 2008 7:04AM]

Actually the 30" doesn't support HDCP, I should know, I own one...

[kal326 @ Nov 18th 2008 9:21AM]

The real "Bag of hurt"

[Wiizer @ Nov 17th 2008 10:21PM]

Apple Fanboys begin to spin the news in 3... 2... 1...

[lowdef @ Nov 17th 2008 10:23PM]

0, -1, -2

[rippinhonda @ Nov 17th 2008 10:31PM]

Sack BBBBBOOOYeeeeeee!

[Wiizer @ Nov 17th 2008 10:33PM]

@ rippinhonda

Hope you're enjoying the game! ;D

[jason brennan @ Nov 17th 2008 10:34PM]

I'm considered an Apple fanboy by most, but this is pretty awful news.

Thankfully on my RevA Macbook Pro I have no problem watching movies rented from the store on my HDTV... but if this is a new trend, then that's really, really shitty.

I thought Apple knew better!

[Darren @ Nov 17th 2008 11:15PM]

You make it sound like Apple are ones responsible for HDCP.

[no thanks @ Nov 17th 2008 11:57PM]

You make it sound like Apple are ones responsible for HDCP.

and im sure this is the same logic you applied to windows too........


/sarcasm

[KarlW @ Nov 18th 2008 12:34AM]

Nobody would call this good news, although it does raise the possibility of Blu-Ray movie playback coming to OSX.

display copy protection was the big question. Drivers need to be rewritten. OSX's drivers are largely written by Apple, and they needed to do this anyway for Snow Leopard. If Apple rewrites all of their GPU drivers with copy protection included, then yes, movie playback will be more restrictive. However, it also removes a potential problem in supporting Blu-Ray.

The ars article says this is a 'feature' of DisplayPort. So does that mean my previous generation MacBook can output those movies to VGA fine? If so, I feel the resale value going up :)

[Andy TGD @ Nov 18th 2008 10:32AM]

Where is iEye when you need him?

[AMiSH PiRATE @ Nov 18th 2008 11:44AM]

This isn't a PC or Mac issue. Copyright laws & enforcement measures in this country are FUBAR and monopolistic. Intel Corporation charges companies an annual fee to license HDCP. By the movie studios collectively forcing distributors to use HDCP in their content, they're in turn forcing companies making new displays to use HDCP, which in turn forces consumers to purchase new HDCP compliant displays from only manufacturers who support HDCP. All this nonsense sounds self-destructive, but gets kind of frightening if it does catch on. It's a frakking modern day stamp act on media.

[collegekid13 @ Nov 17th 2008 10:21PM]

apples getting worse then Microsoft. come on!

[lawyer bird @ Nov 17th 2008 10:55PM]

Whoa!
You are a college kid!

[Ron @ Nov 17th 2008 11:05PM]

^fanboi

[lost..civantares @ Nov 18th 2008 12:36AM]

Getting worse? It's been worse for quite awhile. Windows doesn't attempt to run a despotic regime through windows media player...

[L.M.L.Y.P @ Nov 17th 2008 10:22PM]

bahahaha oh lawd is dat some HDCP?

[dave @ Nov 18th 2008 4:51PM]

i lol'd so hard. why didnt they think of that before making this their standard name?

[Chizzed @ Nov 17th 2008 10:22PM]

This should have been somewhat anticipated I guess. When has Apple decided, ever, to try and keep their customers from going up fecal's creek without a paddle.

Lame-o's

[lowdef @ Nov 17th 2008 10:23PM]

mmmmmm fecal creek....

[The Dude @ Nov 17th 2008 10:55PM]

"...users that are still rocking displays sans HDCP-compliant HDMI / DVI ports are up__Fecal's Creek__without a paddle."

I know right? Darren needs to remember to capitalize proper nouns. As for the HDCP debacle, I guess that's what they get for wandering into Bag of Hurt Forest.

[Shawn @ Nov 17th 2008 10:23PM]

Apple made boo-boo
Juno was overrated
Drillbit was okay.

[Eli Perkins @ Nov 17th 2008 10:37PM]

toy story two was okay.

i like sheryl as a friend but i'm not sure about taking things further.

[ricky@Berklee @ Nov 18th 2008 3:33AM]

@Eli
HOLY SHIT. Dude where the hell did youhear that from? That is spray painted outside of a grocery store wall where i live (boston) and i laughed for like 20 minutes when i saw that. Its probably the funniest thing anyone could ever spray paint on a wall. hahahahah its still hilarious.

Yeah, fuck MPAA. Torrents/Mojo on my school network.

[macgregger @ Nov 18th 2008 9:13AM]

it's Demetri Martin.

"Last summer I learned the difference between peeing in a pool and peeing into a pool. Location location location."

[Jake @ Nov 19th 2008 12:25AM]

Did NO ONE get the haiku?

[Sneakz @ Nov 17th 2008 10:23PM]

Who doesn't have a display thats HDCP compliant by now. I have two. A 22" and 24" Sammy.

[Aguiluz @ Nov 17th 2008 11:08PM]

Me.

I have a 5" LCD display (non-widescreen), two 21" CRT TVs, 17" CRT Monitor and *maybe* three laptop LCD monitors (widescreen, no idea about HDCP compliance).

Seriously, if you pirate it, it JUST WORKS. No need to spend extra to comply with DRM/HDCP crap. That's why I'm thinking they are digging a deeper hole now because consumers want CONVENIENCE. I got a cuzzin who got burned by buying stuff and she called me over to "fix" it. After hours, I said "screw this" and pirated the movies she bought and burned them to DVD. Pop it in and it plays, end of story. Fine, hit the [-] button, you jerks, but there are many people burned by this too!

I never pirate games, save for some NES/Atari/SNES/PS1 which they don't manufacture anymore (Therefore not hurting their profits). Games industry needs to survive.

[CraigJ @ Nov 17th 2008 11:56PM]

I like Apple's stuff, but they aren't perfect. They screwed this up bigtime, but even more to blame art the assholes that came up with this clusterfuck of a DRM system.

AnyDVD + Netflix account + hand break = region free content on my Mac, PC and iPhone. Oh, and Torrents come in handy too. I'm not really down with stealing, but when they decide they are going to control how I watch my movies and listen to music they can go die in a fire. I have no problem paying $15 or $20 for a DVD/BR quality movie given I can watch it wherever I want. Until them, I'm not paying a goddamn dime for any DRM laden shit. There is no way they will be able to prevent the computer literate from hacking their DRM so they should just give it up. The only people this really affects are the technically illiterate (like my parents) who have no idea what that iTunes message even means. The rest of us just hack around to get what we want, and we will not be denied.

Oh, and the obligatory fuck the MPAA

[Gene @ Nov 18th 2008 1:59AM]

To kindly correct a couple things CraigJ said:

1. It's not stealing, it's copyright infringement.
2. It's not hacking, it's cracking DRM.

And to add:

If you are on a Mac, you can use the free software MacTheRipper in place of AnyDVD.

[Joseph @ Nov 18th 2008 1:03PM]

CraigJ-
Why do you need a netflix account in your equation when you can rip any DVD if you buy it?

you said you are "happy to pay $15-$20 for DVD/BR quality movies," but then say how you are going to use "netflix" to get that. it doesnt add up.

I think you justify that netflix is not stealing. You convince yourself that you are merely speeding up the renting process and making the content available elsewhere and immediately. Still I would imagine that is against their TOS. Either way, you have to justify it. Buy the DVD, you can do whatever you want with it. Rent it, itunes it, netflix it, you have to agree to their TOS. If you violate them, then it is your word. Whatever your word is worth. Got 100 movies on your hard drive, then maybe your word is worth $2000. Who knows.

[KEROLiUKAS @ Nov 17th 2008 10:24PM]

lol, so you have to play it on a special monitor? lol, GG Apple fanbois.

[barry99705 @ Nov 17th 2008 10:30PM]

This isn't an Apple only technology.

[VanillaSpice @ Nov 18th 2008 12:05AM]

KERO is as mad as most others in this stupid comments section.

HDCP is not Apple.

The HDCP system is designed to not play content while an un-compliant viewing device is attached; after all, it wouldn't be protected otherwise.

You cannot implement HDCP without signing contracts that ensure you won't allow a hole.

So it looks to me like the system is working precisely, and exactly, as it is supposed to.

This is not an "awesome fiasco", and I have lost a lot of respect for the intelligence and knowledge of the Engadget writer - maybe they should try playing HDCP content on ANY other system which allows external displays, with a non-HDCP display. See if that works, why don't you?

[Joe Dombrowski @ Nov 18th 2008 11:15AM]

Vanilla: It most certainly is a fiasco! Have you ever wondered why so many laptops still use DVI or VGA instead of HDMI? DVI can be used to send an analog signal, and VGA by its very nature is analog. Analog sources of high definition content are not protected. They can be used on any display at any supported resolution. By removing the analog path completely, Apple has left a large number of people out in the cold through a planned obsolescence scheme worthy of Creative Labs.

[u07ch @ Nov 17th 2008 10:28PM]

Maybe we now know why there are no bluray drives ...

Seems to me apple is breaking their own terms of use agreement though; which only say hdcp in relation to HDMI.

(xvi) HDMI. An HDCP connection is required in order to view movies (purchased or rented) and TV shows transmitted over HDMI.

[Dr Zoidberg @ Nov 18th 2008 12:32PM]

So ... Do you think they'll sue themselves?

[Ed @ Nov 18th 2008 4:07PM]

Unfortunately, HDCP flagged content will only play back when you're connected to an HDCP compliant display using HDMI (or in some cases DVI I believe). In other words, unless everything is HDCP compliant, nothing HDCP will play.

So, as CraigJ said above, F*** the MPAA.

[felix @ Nov 17th 2008 10:30PM]

uhm... displayport->vga adapter cable? shouldnt this work?

[Juaquin @ Nov 17th 2008 10:37PM]

No, because there has to be an HDCP device connected to the machine. Unless they add HDCP circuitry to the adapter (which would be very hard, expensive and would probably require a powered connector), there is no way around this short of removing the HDCP restriction on the content.

Nice thinking there, Apple. I'm starting to lose faith in your engineers.

[JZ @ Nov 18th 2008 4:48AM]

Started? There is no product released lately of Apple from the first batch suffered massive issues varying from overheating to cracks to faulty software. Its rather blatant that costumers still accept to pay while the risk certainly for new users is rather high. The HDCP flaw isn´t an exception in the whole process.
But then on the other hand its a wet dream for Stevo to see costumers paying hard money for poorly engineered hardware/software and still don´t mind to bend over everytime an update gets released.