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Review of MacX YouTube Downloader | Pros and Cons in Free Video Downloading

According to our background data feedback, the downloads of MacX YouTube Downloader has reached millions, which occupies a significant proportion in our whole software downloads. Sincere thanks to our dear users, we can't make this great achievement without your guys trust and support. So we would do anything helpful for you as long as you need.

Recently, some users send Emails to us, asking various questions about the free YouTube downloader for Mac, covering the common user guide, product features and the detailed parameter selection. Considering some of you might know little about our free YouTube downloader for Mac, it's essential to write a detailed review to let you have an overall acquaintance about this freeware. The main advantages and disadvantages of the Mac video downloader are also illustrated here, hoping it be useful for you.

MacX YouTube Downloader Features

Focus on One Thing and do it Well: Download Video

  • Fast free download video from Facebook, Vimeo, Vevo, 1000+ sites.
  • Download 8K/4K/1080p/VR/360 ºVideo to MP4, WebM, etc;
  • Auto Add MP4 to iTunes for transferring to iPhone, iPad iPod iOS.
  • Batch downloading; simple to use; provides help & tech supports; 100% Safe.
  • No 4K video downloader can't parse link, Any video downloader error/fail issues.

System Requirements:

  • Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard to Mac OS X 10.15 (macOS Big Sur).
  • Processor: Intel-based Mac computer (32-bit or 64-bit) MacBook Pro/Air/iMac
  • RAM: 512MB RAM
  • Free Hard Disk: 110MB free hard disk space for installation
  • Graphic Card: Super VGA (800×600) resolution, 16-bit graphics card or higher

MacX YouTube Downloader Review

When you launch this free video downloader on Mac, you're greeted by a simple yet clean interface, no frills. And there is no annoying commercial ads popping up. Just the top icons on the menu draw your attention. Click the first icon, and you will enter the video download window. The second icon is used to clear finished video files if you don't plan save the downloaded videos. The next icon with a "trash can" is to remove all video sources. The fourth one has "Setting" feature, letting you choose preferred video format (e.g., MP4, WebM, FLV, 3GP), video resolution (Highest Definition, 2160p, 1080p, 720p, 480p, etc.), target folder, etc. Click the blue words and you will be directed to a webpage with all supported websites listed (1000+).

MacX YouTube Downloader Review

As for the options at the right corner of the bottom, you can make full use of them if you need. Hit "Play" button and the imported video will play in the small window for your preview. A sound slide bar is on the right side for you to adjust the volume. If you're disposed to take snapshots from video, the camera icon is born for that purpose and you can find all the pictures in the folder next to camera. Target Folder, I bet we know its function, so pass it here. You might feel curious about "Auto add MP4s to iTunes". Ok, actually, it's crafted to transfer MP4 video to iPhone iPad iOS devices for mobile device viewing. Have to admit it's a considerate design for iOS device users.

Pros:

The supported video sites are quite extensive.

Free download video of whatever format and resolution.

Batch downloading video in fast speed.

Simple to use; professional supports to help you solve problems.

Cons:

Unable to convert downloaded YouTube video.

Built-in video player is for downloaded video preview, not a truly video player.

No CPU/GPU hardware acceleration tech to speed up video downloading process.

User Guide

Step 1. Paste YouTube Video URL

Click "Add Youtube URL" button to enter video download window. Then paste video URL to the analyze bar.

Step 2. Choose Video Format Resolution

Select the desired video format MP4 AVI MKV webm, resolution 720p, 1080p, 2160p, codec and file size.

Step 3. Click Download Now Button

Hit "Download Now" and then this free YouTube downloader for Mac will begin to download video from YouTube, Vimeo, etc.

Users Review

It is undeniable that MacX YouTube Downloader review should be made with different points of view and different angles. It can't be simply judged by its developer; more importantly, it should be rated by its users - you. Certainly, we can't collect all the users review and feedbacks here, so we just pick some users reviews. If you also wanna something to say about this Mac free YouTube video downloader, you're warmly welcomed to send E-mail to us.

I spend much time to search and try some mac video downloaders like mac video downloader. But it sucks. fortunately, I find this one. it's useful and simple to use. I'm falling in love with this one. - Lucas Perkins

MacX YouTube Downloader looks more professional than some of its rivals, but the interface isn't quite as clear as it could be. - techradar.com

MacX YouTube Downloader for Mac is one of the best youtube downloader that I have used for Mac. It surely supports downloading from many other video sites. - Basten Dome

In both libre and gratis sense, Macx YouTube Downloader is a brilliant mac video downloader. I'd like to use it to download YouTube videos esp 1080p HD,4K video. It's even more attractive than keepvid, because it supports batch downloading from lots of video sites. - Isabella

I appreciate any free app, so I like this application.it is good to download youtube videos. I said this app is cool not only it's fast, but also it supports to select resolution and get subtitles. - jamjacky

youtube downloader made by macxdvd performs video downloading job quite well. simple copy paste url, that's thoughtful. And the supported video sites are quite extensive. Nice app! - Jacob Ryan

Competitiveness

Comparison makes a clear line about the gap among the same type of things. Here we select another three free video downloader for Mac to have a comparison. They are Keepvid, YTD Video Downloader for Mac and iGetter for Mac. To compare these four Mac free YouTube downloaders, we focus on video downloading ability, supported video sites, ease of use, bonus features, help & support, etc. The detailed comparison result is below.

MacX YouTube Downloader Keepvid YTD Video Downloader for Mac iGetter for Mac
License

Free

Free

Free

Free

Supported OS

Mac OS X 10.5 - 10.15

Mac & Windows & Linux  

Mac OS X 10.6 - 10.12 

Mac OS X 10.2 - 10.11

Video Download

Yes

Yes

Video Only

Yes

4K 8K UHD Download

Yes

No. HD 720p is the maximum resolution

No. It's unstable in 8K video downloading

Yes

Batch Download

Yes

No

No

Yes

Supported Video Sites

1000+

28 (among them, 6 sites need KeepVid Helper UserScript)

48

Unclear, no specific number

Ease of Use

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Add MP4 to iTunes

Yes

No

No

No

Video Conversion

No

No

No

No

Screenshot Functionality

Yes

No

No

No

Video Player

Yes

No

No

No

Help & Support (FAQ, Email, Guide)

Yes

No

No

No

Grounded on the comparison on the table, you can have a basic acquaintance with the listed free video downloader for Mac. Certainly, there is no enough room to introduce their features in detail in the table. In terms of the highlights of the above Mac video downloader freeware, the following part will give you a deep exposition.

MacX YouTube Downloader

Downloading video can't make the video software extraordinary. What makes it special and useful is its various video sites supported, including YouTube, Facebook, Dailymotion, Myspace, Metacafe, Instagram, Vimeo, Vevo, etc. Plus, not all the free YouTube downloaders support you to play video for a preview. This Mac video downloader freeware enables you to play any video and extract pictures from video as png format.

If there is any downside to this YouTube downloader app, it's that it can't convert downloaded video format. And in case you need the video conversion feature, you can consider its advanced version MacX Video Converter Pro to convert video to MP4 MOV MKV AVI FLV, etc. 180+ video, 14+ audio and 350+ mobile devices.

Mac free video downloader

Keepvid

Keepvid is easy use for anyone who is even a green hand to video downloader. Needless to download video downloader software or install any plug-ins, you just finish the video downloading process on the web browser. It's really nice and useful. Yet, where this free online video downloader falls down is that it can't download 4K video from YouTube in full video. 4K video downloading is available only when you ditch away the audio.

Mac free video downloader - keepvid

YTD Video Downloader for Mac

As a free YouTube video downloader freeware, YTD downloader for Mac is qualified. It can free download videos from YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Pornhub, etc. 48 sites. Yet, as you can see from the picture, this Mac video downloader is built-in with so many annoying ads, e.g., the Valentine's Day sale, YTD pro version, etc. And another point it needs to fix is its installation problem. I download this app from its official site and encounter 4 times failure on app installation, but eventually I download this dmg from donwload.cnet and successfully install it.

Mac free YouTube downloader - YTD video downloader

iGetter for Mac

With 3.5 scores out of 5 on download.cnet, this video downloader for Mac free program is not so famous as the previous ones. It's true that it doesn't support as many as video sites as MacX YouTube Downloader or not simple as Keepvid. But what it's worth a mention is that it not only allows you to free download video from YouTube, but also download other files like dmg, zip, PDF from sites. And its Site Explorer expends your search to the entire website (http or https) and even FTP.

download video from YouTube with iGetter

Test of Performance

Above comparison is based on the product features. Now we'd use the specific video downloading test to improve their video downloading speed and quality.

Note: This performance comparison test is finished on a 27" iMac with 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5, 8GB1333 MHZDDR3 and AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512 MB, powered by Yosemite operating system. You shall also have to note that your computer configuration has a significant impact on the video downloading speed. Higher config means faster speed. Please try to choose a comparatively powerful computer to download video if you don't wanna spend the better part of your weekend on online video downloading.

MacX YouTube Downloader

Keepvid

YTD Video Downloader for Mac

iGetter for Mac

online video clip

Test video info

Size: 33.8 MB Length: 04:16

 

 

Video Parameters

Video format

MP4 (H264)

Size

33.8 MB

33.8 MB

33.8 MB

33.8 MB

Video Quality 720p HD

Excellent (no loss)

High

High

Clear, lossy

Download speed

48.86 seconds

1 min 17.30 seconds

56 seconds

1min 28.53 seconds

External Interference

The web browser is open; Excel is running; PhotoShop is working at the background.

The video downloading speed is decided by varied factors, including the computer hardware, the current network condition, the running tasks, etc. Keepvid, as a online video downloading service, is affected mostly by the network condition. So this test speed reflects a general speed level, not the abosolute speed. Of course, MacX YouTube Downloader wins this speed test compaign, mainly thanks to its multi-core CPU (up to 8) utility. Thus, it can utilize 4 CPU cores on this Intel Core i5 iMac to finish the video downloading task. So it runs a little faster than others. Well, it's more sensible if we test more videos like 4K video, virtual reality video. Unfortunately, Keepvid currently can't digest 4K video and YTD downloader can't deal with 8K video downloading.

None is perfect. It still has large space to get improved. If you have used an even better Mac free YouTube downloader, welcome to E-mail us and share with us. We will absorb the quintessence and keep on improving it.

Notice: MacXDVD Software doesn't advocate any reproduce, distribute, transmit, broadcast or sell any content for any other purposes without prior written permission of YouTube or the respective licensors of the content. Please refer to YouTube terms of service before doing so.