New Hardware Content Protection on new Macs

Apple Discussion Thread on the Issue

To summarize: The New MacBooks/MacBook Pros include hardware-level support for HDCP, a content protection system that limits which devices can receive video and audio data. Why should you care? Movies and TV Shows purchased or rented through the iTunes Store, when put onto these new macs, will only play on external displays that support the HDCP system. Does your display? Unless it's brand-new, probably not — this includes most all of Apple's displays as well as third-party models. You can forget about using projectors for big screen viewing as well.

In other words, if you buy a new Mac and want to view iTunes content on a screen other than the small internal display, you're most likely out of luck, unless you want to shell out big bucks for a brand-new monitor. Read the Apple Discussion thread for numerous examples of people unable to use their external displays after buying the new Macs.

This should definitely give people pause before they get a new portable, or more importantly, before they buy anything from the iTunes Store. I would encourage people who don't like this state of affairs to send emails to Apple (sjobs@apple.com or use the feedback form on the Apple.com).

In addition, if you own one of these new Macs and have run into this issue personally, I would use the "report a problem" link in iTunes to demand a refund for your content that will no longer play properly. If they refuse, I would continue to pursue it. A Better Business Bureau Complaint might get you somewhere. It's a bit slow, but some high-up people in Apple will end up reading your grievances, and Apple is required to respond in order to maintain their rating with the BBB.

NOTE: The HDCP hardware features are only active for content that has DRM-support for it, so your non-DRMed content will still play normally.