How can I buy a movie on my Apple iPad?

I can already tell that the iPad is an awesome movie viewer, but if I'm on the road and that's all I have, can I buy a movie directly on the iPad and have it downloaded for later viewing? I only have the wifi version, btw.

Dave's Answer:

I'm with you. From the moment I saw the advertising for the Apple iPad, I thought "man, that's going to be a sweet, sweet device for my next airplane flight!" Then I realized that you have to get the content onto the iPad. You can do that with iTunes, of course, but if you aren't near your computer and want to get a new movie, are you out of luck?

Of course you aren't. You think Apple doesn't want to enable you to spend money any time, anywhere? :-)

More seriously, you need to launch the 'iTunes' app and then the steps are straightforward if you've already set up an iTunes account with payment information. If you haven't, that's a step you'll probably need to do on your main computer, though if you enjoy the data entry system on the iPad you can definitely use that too.

Start by tapping on 'iTunes':

You've now entered a fascinating new world of the iTunes Store. Tons to check out, and a fair amount of free stuff if you can find it. Tap on "Movies" along the bottom and you'll see something like this:

You are welcome to spend hours browsing, but I'm going to move quickly by typing in the name of a great Pixar animated short Mike's New Car in the top right search box. Tap "Search" on the virtual keyboard and you'll see the film in question:

Tap on the movie graphic and you'll get a larger summary of the film:

Lots to notice here, but you can do that on your own time. Instead, tap on "Preview" and you can watch a snippet of the film:

Looks great! Let's jump back to the movie info page again (tap "Done" in the top left corner or wait until the preview ends), then tap on "Buy $1.99". That button changes to:

Tap on it one more time to actually buy the movie and it'll pop up a request for your iTunes password, a nice hurdle if you are otherwise afraid friends-- or kids!! -- might grab a bunch of films on your behalf:

Once you've entered it correctly, you'll see the film start to download:

That's it. Now, to actually watch the movie, you'll want to go back to the home page and tap on the "Videos" icon:

and...

There ya go. You can see the other films I have on my iPad too. An eclectic mix! :-)

Enjoy your movies. Let us know what you find the most enjoyable on your new Apple iPad too.

If you're here, odds are very good you're looking for iPad Help, and that's just what we aim to offer, so if you have a question about your iPad that you haven't seen answered here, please do submit it!

More Useful Apple iPad Help Articles:

✔ Closed captioning for TV shows and movies on my iPhone?

Hey Dave, I saw your article from a few days about How to Turn on Closed Captioning in iTunes and am wondering if...

✔ Capture and email a portion of an iPad screen display?

I would like to be able to clip out a rectangular section of any screen on the iPad (not just web pages) and...

✔ Review: Verticus for iPad

iOS gamers everywhere are familiar with the genre of infinite forward progress apps - Mega Jump, Canabalt, and a host of other run/jump/fly-until-you-die...

✔ Enable Apple 2-Step Verification in iTunes?

I keep reading all these articles about iTunes account security and people having their accounts hacked. I have 2-step security verification set up...

✔ The Best Free iOS Apps?

Whether the best things in life are free is an issue hotly debated over. With iOS apps, this may or may not be...

Let's stay in touch!

Sign up for my weekly AskDaveTaylor Newsletter and you'll receive even more tech and gadget help right to your inbox, along with exclusive news and industry updates. It's good stuff. I promise!

Categorized: Apple iPad Help (Article 9381, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: apple ipad, apple itunes, itunes music store, itunes store, movie downloads, online movies
Previous: How can I delete more than one photo from my iPad?
Next: How can I view and edit Microsoft Word Documents on my iPad?

Reader Comments To Date: 25

Paul Peng said, on July 27, 2010 9:10 AM:

Thanks, Dave. Could you tell me "How to organize movies on IPad?" Is there anything like "iBooks", I can display movies?

Dave Taylor said, on July 27, 2010 9:17 AM:

Paul, I wish there was, but I haven't found anything similar. I just use the Get Info capability in iTunes to copy and paste movie posters as the icons for movies before I sync them on my iPad (which isn't an issue if the only movies you have are bought in the iTunes Store, btw)

Paul Peng said, on July 27, 2010 9:48 AM:

Thanks Dave. Are movies rented from Netflix to IPad be able to watch on airplane flight, specific International flight,?

Dave Taylor said, on July 27, 2010 9:50 AM:

Pretty sure that won't work, Paul, as Netflix is a streaming service...

Paul Peng said, on July 27, 2010 10:16 AM:

I'm glad to ask you about Netflix. Will rent or buy movies from iTunes Store for watching it on iPad when I travel. It will work on airplane flight, right?

Paul Peng said, on July 29, 2010 8:44 AM:

Hi, Dave. Is it worth to get a "Movies HD" ?

Orsetta said, on September 23, 2010 4:15 AM:

Hi,i'm writing f rom italy. I did what you said about movies for iPad but here iTunes doesn't work as you said !!! Is it possibile?? How can i buy movie s for my iPad so??

Arshad said, on September 23, 2010 1:28 PM:

In iTunes I don't have the "movies" button. Any ideas ?

Bruno said, on October 20, 2010 6:37 AM:

Itunes sucks !
It works only for the US.
All over Asia, you can't buy either music or movies, or books.
Basically, all you can do with an Ipad is surfing the web.
Thank you very much Apple!

Jen said, on November 29, 2010 8:26 PM:

Dear Dave,
I normally want to watch movies on my iPad when streaming/Netflix isn't available (airplane, airport with poor wi-fi, etc.). I am frustrated because most of the movies I would like to watch are not available for purchase on iTunes (e.g. The Motorcycle Diaries)!! Is there another way to purchase movies? If I purchased the The Motorcycle Diaries on Amazon could I watch it on my ipad?
Help!
Jen

carla said, on December 20, 2010 2:52 PM:

Thanks! I have the movie on my ipad now, can I also put it on my iphone?

Dave Taylor said, on December 20, 2010 11:07 PM:

Jen, I don't think that the films purchased on Amazon can be played on an iPad that's offline, though if you rent a film in iTunes, it *should* work if it's downloaded. I'm with you: this is all darn confusing.

Carla, yes, most assuredly. When you plug your iPhone into your computer, go to "movies" within the iPhone config area, check the box adjacent to the new movie, then "Sync" it up again.

Robin said, on December 28, 2010 8:52 PM:

Hi Taylor

I have an Norwegians iPad because i live in norway. But i don't got that movies icon in my iTunes. Any ideas?

Thx

Linda said, on January 25, 2011 12:32 PM:

I have tried to download iTunes movies several times on my iPad and I always get an error message after several minutes. I was charged for the movies but they do not show in my download cache.

John said, on March 4, 2011 7:25 PM:

I recently purchased a movie from itunes on my ipad and I wanted to start playing the movie before it completed the download. However, I couldn't find a way to do this. I didn't appear in "movies" Any advice?

Annik said, on March 5, 2011 5:52 PM:

Hi,
We are a French Canadian family with 2 young children (2 and 4). My children don't understand English yet and I am looking to get French children movies on my iPad. Is there a way I can change the language of movies I would like to download (just like I do with a DVD)? I tried finding French movies on iTunes, but can't find any.
Thank you, Annik

Tarina said, on April 10, 2011 12:42 AM:

Hi, Please help me. I have a new ipad and have rented a few movies for the kids using the iTunes store on my computer. I have then synced the ipad but I canot find the rented movies on the ipad. Are they supposed to be in 'videos'with bought movies? If so they have not been put on the device.

zma said, on July 17, 2011 12:26 PM:

But if it takes 2 minutes to download a short film that is 3-1/2 minutes-how long does it take to download a feature length film? Might seriously reduce your battery life and increase your boredom if you're in flight.

Kathy said, on November 21, 2011 7:44 AM:

I am have a problem. Please help!! I cant buy movies from itune in itune hong kong. what can I do?
Thank you.

vi walsh said, on March 10, 2012 3:52 PM:

Can I change/select the language of the films I download? I want to watch in English. Because I live in Spain and opened my account here (I don't have a UK billing address), it looks as if I only have access to Spanish language products.

chaddy41 said, on April 28, 2012 3:02 PM:

how did you take screenshots on an iPad Doyou know THanks!

Paula said, on May 16, 2012 12:08 PM:

I did most of what you said, except i used iCloud to download my already purchased movie on itunes. I download it 2 times. Can not fine it on my New iPad. Where is it. I did not keep an eye on it, because it takes a long time. hours. When I saw it was done and not there anymore, i looked for it and could not fine it. help. It never downloaded or i missed something????? Help
Thank You for helping us Newbee's.
Paula

Melissa said, on August 21, 2012 1:00 AM:

I bought a movie in iTunes, it shows in video icon, plays fine with wifi, but how can I play/watch it on airplane with no wifi or other connection? It appears that it is downloaded to iCloud which does me no good w/out connection. Apple store guy checked my version of iTunes, plenty of memory , etc. HELP! Thank you

Karee said, on January 8, 2013 1:11 PM:

I too just downloaded. Moi on iTunes n it is not in my mo ion. What went wrong. I showed up in iTunes n I can view it there ith wifii . But no where else.

Thank you karee

Blackrose said, on January 22, 2013 5:08 PM:

Please, my IPad doesn't have that movies icon u talked about. The 1 on ITUNES. What do I do??

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

How can I buy a movie on my Apple iPad?

Reader Comments To Date: 25

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

Check This Out Too...