Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method and an apparatus for acquiring a video bitstream, and relate to the field of information technologies, which can improve network bandwidth utilization. The method includes: firstly, acquiring, by a terminal, a minimum bit rate corresponding to a parameter of the terminal; then, sending, by the terminal, a video bitstream acquiring request to a server, and when receiving the video bitstream acquiring request sent by the terminal, sending, by the server, an MPD to the terminal; and finally, receiving, by the terminal, the MPD sent by the server, and acquiring a video bitstream according to the MPD and the minimum bit rate. The embodiments of the present invention are applicable to a case in which a user downloads video data by using a terminal.