Download SD Movies in iTunes
author: Nathan Acks
date: 2021-06-09
Sometimes you don’t want to download the 1080p, or even 720p, version of a movie or TV show in iTunes. Maybe your connection is slow, or your computer is old, or you just want to get that old DVD feeling.
Unfortunately, iTunes can be stubborn about this, even when you’ve unchecked “Download full-sized HD videos” and checked “Download high-quality SD videos” in the “Downloads” tab of the preferences.
Downloading Movies and Entire TV Series as SD
This is the easiest way to grab SD content:
- Go to the Store.
- Click on “Purchased” in the middle of the right-hand sidebar.
- Make sure you’re on either the “Movies” or “TV Shows” tab.
- Uncheck the “Download HD When Available” box in the lower right of the tab.
- Download the movie or full TV series FROM THIS PAGE. If you switch back to your library, you’ll download the HD version - you must download the SD version from the “Purchased” page.
Downloading Individual TV Show Episodes
For TV shows, you can also download individual episodes in SD, but you need to use a different method.
- Expand the TV show you want to download.
- Select the season of the episode you want to download.
- Right-click on any episode of the season, and choose “Show in iTunes Store”.
- In the left-hand sidebar, toggle from HD to SD (just below the series cover).
- Download individual episodes FROM THIS PAGE. Again, if you switch back to your library, you’ll download the HD version instead.