Apple Blocks Movies From External Displays

MacBook owners are becoming enraged upon finding that their new MacBooks have hardware-based copyright protection that prevents the viewing of iTunes movies on some external displays.

Apple's new notebooks have been discovered to incorporate HDCP in their DisplayPort.

High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) is a form of digital copy protection developed by Intel Corporation to prevent copying of digital audio and video content as it travels across DisplayPort, Digital Visual Interface (DVI), High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), Gigabit Video Interface (GVIF), or Unified Display Interface (UDI) connections, even if such copying would be permitted by fair use laws. [Wikipedia]


Apple Discussion Forums are abuzz with upset users discovering that their legally purchased iTunes content cannot be played on their external displays.

Just got a new MacBook last week and finally found a mini Display Port -> VGA adapter so i could use my 19" external display. I rented a movie from the iTunes store yesterday and when I tried to play it on my external display, it gave me a warning/error that the display was 'not an authorized HDCP display' and it would not play. Plays fine on the small MacBook screen, just nothing external. To make it even worse, i tried all the movies that I have purchased from the iTunes store with the same result... NONE of them will play on anything but the MacBook's small 13" screen. This is crazy unacceptable.

It seems that the DisplayPort-to-VGA connection is not HDCP aware and thus the new MacBook refuses to play the video. Not all iTunes content features HDCP protection; however, Mac users are already demanding a response from Apple.

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