4K Disney movies briefly spotted on Apple TV

What you need to know

Some Disney movies were spotted in 4K for the first time.
Disney movies have previously topped out at 1080p.
The references to 4K now appear to have been removed.

When Apple started selling iTunes movies in 4K in 2017 it wasn't able to do a deal with Disney. That means movie lovers can't watch some of Hollywood's biggest releases in 4K if they want to use an Apple TV. But that might be about to change after multiple movies appeared in 4K, although briefly.

The change was first spotted by a MacRumors forum member who noticed that Aladdin was being advertised with a 4K HDR badge. That's now been removed, but further 4K hotness was spotted by a Reddit user, too.

According to the post they were able to capture screenshots of Black Panther, Wreck-It Ralph, and more with 4K and Dolby Atmos listed as available. Again, those references now appear to have been removed.

If our prayers have been answered this is a sign that Disney movies are finally coming to iTunes in 4K and as a result, the Apple TV. If they haven't, we're about to be let down once more. We're not sure our aching hearts can take the disappointment, but at least there are new iPhones and an Apple Watch to look forward to.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.