iTunes provides a wide variety of video content in the form of movie rentals and purchases. There are a few ways in which users engage with the video content from iTunes. You can download it from the iTunes store onto your computer or iPad and then either watch it there or stream it to your TV. People that have Apple TV can easily stream the content from iTunes video to their TV’s.
Users have experienced two major issues when it comes to using the iTunes Store movie rentals. The first of these issues is related to slow download of the content or the content stops downloading mid-way and the second set of issues pertain to the playback aspects of the content once you have actually successfully downloaded it. You hit the play button on the downloaded content and it stops at 0:00 with a black screen. No Sound and no picture.
Contents
- 1 Latest Version of iTunes
- 2 How long is an iTunes Movie Rental?
- 3 Problems downloading a rented movie from iTunes
- 4 Reader Tips
- 5 Want a Refund for an iTunes Movie Rental? Here’s How!
- 5.1 The easiest way to get a refund is to open your email order confirmation and select report a problem at the bottom of that email
- 5.2 Alternatively, navigate to your iTunes purchase history and report a problem there
- 5.3 Or go to Apple’s Apple’s problem reporting site and follow the on-screen steps
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Latest Version of iTunes
The first step to make sure is that you have the latest version of iTunes on your computer or iDevice. A large number of iTunes problems are associated with running the older version of the software on your machine. Please check Apple’s site for the latest iTunes version and make sure to read the system requirements.
How long is an iTunes Movie Rental?
Apple gives you 30 days to start watching a movie after you rent it. Once you start watching the movie, you have 24 hours (in the United States) or 48 hours (rest of world) to finish watching it. AND, Apple lets you watch the movie as often as you like until that 24 or 48 hours expire.
However, if you don’t start watching a movie within 30 days, you must rent it again. All rented movies disappear from your iTunes library after the rental ends.
Can’t Find Your Rented iTunes Movie?
Once you download an iTunes movie rental, it’s available in the Library section of your TV app (for US) or Videos app (for rest of world) on your iOS device under Rentals.
When you rent a movie from iTunes on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod, you can only watch it on that iDevice or Airplay it to an Apple TV. You cannot watch it on your Mac or PC. If you rent a movie on your Mac or PC and want to watch it on your iPhone or iDevice, transfer that movie to your device by connecting to iTunes and syncing. Apple TV movie rentals can be watched on other Apple TVs but not any other devices.
Problems downloading a rented movie from iTunes
If you are having problems with downloading the video content from the store, you may want to check your wi-fi settings. If your wi-fi signal is weak, you may want to download the content by using an Ethernet cable. The other option is to make sure that your internet service providers signal strength is strong, otherwise, you can override your DNS settings and use a faster speed service such as Google’s public DNS servers. Please check the article to solve any Wi-Fi issues that you may be experiencing which hinder your ability to download the content.
If you have successfully downloaded the content and are experiencing playback issues with the content, here are few steps that might help you with the problem. Please try each of the steps to find the one that works for you.
- Deauthorize Account from the iTunes store. Open your iTunes account on your computer. Click on Store on the top menu and choose Deauthorize this computer
- Quit iTunes and Restart your Computer
- Open your iTunes again and Reauthorize the computer by clicking on Store on the Menu followed by Authorize this Computer
- Check for Downloads by clicking on “Check for Available Downloads” from the Store Menu
- Download the movie and then Play it
Rented iTunes Movie Not Working on iPad or iPhone?
- For the United States, open the TV app and tap Library, then look under the Rentals section
- For all other countries, open the Videos app, then tap Rentals
- If you don’t see any current rentals, check that you’re using the correct Apple ID
- Log in to your account on iTunes and look for the option to download items that are waiting in iTunes
- Tap the RENT button again and look for the message “You’ve already rented this but it hasn’t been download. Go to Downloads to manage your downloads.” See if the Cloud Download button now appears next to your “Purchases”
- Download Error? Try this reader tip
- Copied a random item from my iTune library (TV Shows) onto the iPad
- Next, deleted the above from the iPad.Then, went back to the Download function on the iPad (had to re-enter user name and password)
- Hit the blue arrow (next to the Download error) next to the movie rentals I was trying to download
- The two rentals that were causing problems immediately completed downloading
Reader Tips 
- Several users have also suggested alternative workarounds. The first of these is to try setting your computer’s clock to a day in advance. Once you have set the clock to Day + 1, try playing the video
- The second alternative is to open the video using your Miniplayer. On your computer, there are two menu commands that bring up the MiniPlayer. In the Windows menu, you can choose MiniPlayer, to display the MiniPlayer above the iTunes window, or Switch to MiniPlayer, which closes the full iTunes window and displays the MiniPlayer. Once the Miniplayer appears, you can click on the play button and expand to full-screen to play the rented movie
Want a Refund for an iTunes Movie Rental? Here’s How!
Under Apple’ current policy, you must request a refund, without any questions asked, for any item within 14 days or less since the purchase. If you have a specific reason, requests for refunds can be made within 90 days after original purchase.
The easiest way to get a refund is to open your email order confirmation and select report a problem at the bottom of that email
- Open Mail app on iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, or PC
- Look for emails from Apple with the subject line “your receipt from Apple”
- Open the receipt with the Movie (or other content) you want Apple to refund
- Tap Report a Problem next to the purchase you want to report.
- This redirects you to Apple’s reporting site
- When requested, enter your Apple ID and password
- Tap Choose Problem and select the problem from the list
- Enter your problem details and submit it
Apple takes a few days to reply to any reported issues and billing problems.
- Open iTunes. Sign in with your Apple ID by selecting Account > Sign in
- Select Account > View My Account and enter your Apple ID password
- Scroll down to Purchase History and select See All
- Find your specific Movie Rental-purchase and tap the gray arrow to the left of the order date and information.
- This lists all that order’s items including date, order number, invoice number and other information
- Press the ‘Report a problem’ button
- This often takes a little time to load–be patient
- Follow the on-screen instructions
- Log in again with your Apple ID and password
- Select App, Book, Music, Movie or TV Show
- Select Report a Problem to the right of the purchase you want a refund for
- Choose Problem and then select your problem from the list
- Enter details about your problem and submit
Or go to Apple’s Apple’s problem reporting site and follow the on-screen steps
- This method works for any purchase made in the last 90 days
- Login with your Apple ID and password
- View your items under purchases (or tap the Movie Tab) and locate the Movie Rental (or other content) in question
- Press the Report a Problem button
- Select the problem from the drop-down list
- Type in any relevant details and submit
We hope one of these steps work for you if and when you have issues playing the movie rentals from iTunes. Please let us know what worked for you and feel free to share the article.