Fast and Easy Video Converter For Mac

By Candice Liu to convert video | Last Updated on Jan 8, 2024

Demands to freely convert video on Mac, e.g. MKV to MP4, YouTube to MP3, AVI to MOV, etc keeps rising but never satisfied. The video converter for Mac page tackles all errors about conversion, and shares step-by-step tutorials to convert MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, WMV, and even compress large 4K/HD video on Mac smoothly.

Part 1: Why Need a Video Converter for Mac

In the media-entangled world, I bet you might as well have a hugely swelling video library spanning years of downloads, rips, records, and saved copies, e.g. hot blockbusters, scenic 4k footages about landscape taken from your HD camcorder, fizzy & fantastic gameplay recordings, funny baby video clips, fair-sounding music videos downloaded from YouTube, etc. But at some point you may need a video converter for Mac to get a head start on the sources, especially when you want to have them all organized, playable, editable, or usable on your Mac laptops, mobile phones, media players, game consoles, etc. Below are the typical scenarios:

No maddening anymore. Mac video transcoders free yourself from all the ball-and-chain formats, allowing you to convert video files from one format to another so that your device will accept. And in this page, we typically share the best video converter especially for Mac users.

Part 2: What Is the Best Video Format? The Answer is MP4

The video conversion is bound up with format. All digital videos are wrapped in formats (also the file extensions), such as MP4, MOV, M4V, AVI, WMV, MKV, DV, FLV, WebM, AVCHD, MTS, etc. But when searching for a video converter for Mac, free or paid, we are actually more in need of MP4 converter for Mac than MKV AVI or WMV format converter. Below are the different video format explanations and how MP4 wins out others.

Generally, MP4 is based on QuickTime file format and features high data compression ratio. MOV is natively supported by Apple's QuickTime player. Both AVI and WMV are developed by Microsoft and are compatible with all Windows platforms. MKV and AVCHD offer a higher degree of image quality. The former is good for storing complete movie with subtitles and supports VFR to effectively improve the image quality while reducing the file size. While the latter is widely used with camcorders. FLV features smaller size (1MB for one minute video and almost 1/3 the file size of other formats) and is good for streaming. Why should you convert MKV/AVI to MP4 on Mac, for example? Check the side-by-side format comparison below.

From the table above, you can draw a conclusion that MP4 is much better for playing, transmitting, streaming, and sharing it is the best format to convert videos. Whether you need to put some movies into photos or tablets for watching to pass the time, stream HD recordings over the internet, share funny videos to your friends via email, or convert YouTube videos for playback on Mac offline, a MP4 converter for Mac has all of your everyday video conversion needs covered.

Part 3: Common Video Converter for Mac Errors

Programs such as Handbrake have been long existing over the internet and taking advantage of the MP4 format. But the ones really satisfying you are rare. Most users will experience little trouble converting video files. Below are the typical problems with common video converter software for Mac.

1. File size limit: Online free converter transcodes a video with a file size between 50 and 100MB and the output options are limited to a few formats, though there's no need to install any software and save disc space.

2. Video conversion takes very long time. I have a 8GB movie in MKV format and I'm trying to convert to AVI with a Video File Converter. After 3 hours the conversion was still at 17% so it would take around 18-20 hours to finish.

3. Unstable/Stuck: Some Mac video decoders get stuck at "Analyze...", when trying to convert a video, e.g. a .wmv file (approx 300MB) to another file format. Others will take a long time to load a video and even crash when converting a 4K UHD video.

4. Video/audio out of sync or no sound: I have an MKV file which I recently re-encoded with meGUI to MP4, the only problem is that the audio keeps getting out of sync. I use VBR for audio with NERO AAC.

5. Limited output options: Some are simply free MP4 converter for Mac, and some others like Handbrake only convert videos to MP4 and MKV, but no other options, such as AVI, MOV, let alone the latest device profiles.

6. Difficult to use: FFmpeg is too difficult to use. If you need a tool to decode/encode video without taking too much of time following the instruction. An easy-to-use interface is highly recommended.

7. Poor video quality: I'm currently using the trial version of Power Director 8. When I add HD video (.mts), cut and edit the movie and then save to MP4 format, the video is extremely poor quality. I cannot see any options to change the video width, height, frame rate, bit rate etc. All I can see is the button to convert to portable MPEG-4, but no options to change the quality or size.

There are many other problems with the common Mac video converters such as the converted movies are unplayable or don't suit the device screen, no other options to tweak the parameter settings, etc. We will keep updating the section here.

Part 4: Best Video Converter for Mac to Transcode Videos with No Error

According to most users' feedback, the best ones shall:

1. Support any videos, including standard MP4, AVI, WMV, MOV, MKV, WebM, FLV, and more, as well as HD H.265, M2TS, MTS, TS, MOD, TOD, AVCHD and more and even 4K UHD videos.
2. Be fully compatible with macOS, including the latest El Capitan and macOS Sierra. No crashing or stuck issue during video conversion.
3. Offer an intuitive interface that helps converting videos as easy as A-B-C.
4. Deliver a really fast converting speed without using up all CPU.
5. Output files with great quality.
6. 100% safe without any adware, malware or spyware.

With these factors taken into consideration, here we recommend you one of the most robust tools - MacX Video Converter Pro. It is a Mac-based video converter capable of converting SD/HD/4K/8K videos, e.g. MKV to MP4, AVI to MP4, WMV to MOV, YouTube to MP3, MTS to H.264, etc and transferring videos to almost all portable devices, including the newly released iPhone 7, iPad Pro, Surface Pro, PS4, Apple TV 4, etc, all within a minimalist interface. It has the knack for good video compression without too much harm on the video/audio quality, so that you can compress 4K/8K video to general format for better playing effect on different screens or devices with lower resolutions (1080p/720p). Speed and quality are grade A, thanks to the Intel QuickSyncVideo, multi-core CPU, Hyper-threading tech and high-quality engine.

First-Rate Video Converter for Mac - It's Unmatchable, Fast and Easy

Part 5: Comparison of the Top 4 Video Converters for Mac

There are reasons why MacX Video Converter Pro ranks the first place for Mac users. To better illustrate its superior features, we have made a battery of tests and performed a detailed comparison against other dominating competitors. The contestants include the popular HandBrake for Mac, Any Video Converter for Mac and Movavi Video Converter Mac version. The factors that users concern most are covered in the comparison and tests, including setup, interface, simplicity, number of supported input/output formats, video conversion speed, output quality and more.

1. Software info

MacX Video Converter Pro is upgraded regularly to integrate the latest encoding tech & profiles and optimize users' converting experience on Mac. It has a modernized interface where buttons are neatly embodied. It stands apart from other paid/free converters that it pops up the next step automatically.

Apart from Handbrake for Mac which seems confusing and antiquated, many others also have clear, logic, self-explanatory and visually appealing interfaces. But as for simplicity, MacX Video Converter Pro sees no matches on the list.

2. Input formats

Different videos come in different formats and settings. There are 4K UHD videos, online YouTube clips, HD AVCHD recordings, Blu-ray videos and more. However, average converter is usually partial to certain file formats and unable to cope with different formats restrictions. This is never a issue with MacX. It supports videos in any formats, including those in HD 720P/1080P, 4K 2160P and even web videos from 1000+ online sites, e.g. convert YouTube videos to MP4 or MP3.

3. Output formats

A free Mac MP4 converter like Handbrake for Mac is sufficient for users with basic converting requirements. MacX offers far more than a MP4 converter. It is a comprehensive piece of video converting software for Mac that delivers flexible options among 200 formats and 350+ devices. It solves the puzzles with the huge amount of video formats and has the right video settings fused ready for different projects, e.g. YouTube uploading, TV or mobiles playback, DVD burning, video editing workflow etc.

4. Ease to use

An easy-to-use macOS video converter halves the work with double results. The easiest way to convert video on Mac is to simply drag your video into the software, select the type of output file, press the button, and get what you need. With MacX, everything you may required are right at your fingertips: drag-and-drop operation; optimized output profiles for websites, mobiles, players, TVs, or DVD burning; step-by-step user guide; troubleshooting... You don't need to figure out which button to click as the next steps are popping up, a big advantage over its competitors including the free Mac vieo converter Handbrake for Mac, AVC or Movavi.

5. Internal Tests

Users tend to become unhappy about a Mac video converter once the conversion time increases and the output quality reduces. Apparently, the software you choose as your mainstay comes down to how fast and how well the video conversion can be done on Mac. To prove that MacX is your best choice, a set of tests were carried out against other lead competitors using 4K and HD videos.

Note: the Mac used in the test is a iMac running on OS X Yosemite, 2.7GHz Intel Core i5, 8GB 1333 MHz DDR3. Higher configuration will give you better results.

* A big shout-out to MacX Video Converter Pro which takes by far the least time to convert the same video under the same settings. It's the world's first and only converter that support Intel's QSV hardware acceleration tech.

* For converting a 4 min 29s 4K MKV (3846*2160) video into MP4 full HD preset, MacX tops out the ripping speed at up to 110fps, that's 10x faster than that of Handbrake for Mac (11fps). The conversion is finished in 30s only, followed by 1min11s with Movavi, and about 4min with the other two.

* The quality is stunning even compared with the file converted under 2-pass mode with the other three, but whole conversion task is times faster (Handbrake for Mac takes 7min 59s for 2-pass conversion). Under the same quality settings, the file sizes produced by MacX is so profoundly different to others. There is no quality difference at a compression ratio up to 7:1 (the 4K MKV video in 2160P was compressed from 496MB to 69.1MB 1080P MP4).

* If you want the smallest output file with the highest quality, you have a choice between MacX and AVC. They both spawn relatively small outputs (78.5MB vs 60.6MB in this test) for 4K and HD conversion. Of the two, MacX delivers much faster speed (49s vs 1min 3s).

* The integration of multi-core CPU utility, hyper-threading tech and Intel Quick Sync Video hardware acceleration tech gives you full control on the resources used for the video conversion on Mac. You can either throw the video conversion task to Intel QSV GPU and spare CPU for other activities, or utilize all the cores to boost the video encoding/decoding to full speed.

6. Other Features

Many video converters for macOS come additional benefits ready, which means that users can do far more than just converting MKV/AVI to MP4, or other different formats on Mac with the converter per se. It is because that many others, especially free video encoderd for Mac lack some important features, e.g. online video download, or to state the converse, because MacX has a full set of superior additional features, like web movie download, video recording, which individually or collectively are considered more essential than other competitors, that makes MacX alluring to be your best video transcoding software for Mac.

7. Conversion Technologies

Conversion technology encompasses a broad range of technologies used by different video converting software for Mac to convert source videos into desired files. To satisfy the two most essential factors in video conversion, namely quality and speed, most Mac video encoders/decoders offer 1-pass and 2-pass encoding modes. To put it simply, 1-pass encoding converts fast at the expense of file quality, while 2-pass sacrifices speed for better results. This is the case with Handbrake for Mac, AVC and Movavi.

To allow speed and quality go hand in hand, MacX takes advantages of a slew of conversion technologies, including high-quality engine, de-interlacing tech, multi-core CPU utility, hyper-threading tech and Intel Quick Sync Video hardware acceleration tech. Those technologies not only make up the quality gaps between 1-pass and 2-pass, but also boot the conversion speed to new heights.

Part 6: How to Convert Video on Mac with MacX Video Converter Pro

While different video converters for Mac have their strong points, the above tests indicate that MacX Video Converter Pro excels most others in various key areas like converting speed, supported formats, quality etc. Here it is selected as the best video transcoding software for macOS to show you how to convert different video formats (Below we convert MKV to MP4 on Mac).

Free download the program. It supports the latest macOS Sierra and earlier versions. Feel free to convert nearly any videos. Now follow the simple steps below to start video transcoding on Mac computers.

[Tutorials] How to Convert Videos MP4 MKV MOV AVI WMV VOB

When you convert a video with a Mac video converter, you may wonder which format to export. Actually, there are thousands of "Best" to choose from, but the "Right" one will depend on what you would like to do with the converted video. Size, quality and compatibility are three most important factors to concern. Some are smaller in size for the websites, while some others hold good quality but result in larger file size. If you don't want to bother, the ready-made profiles in MacX Video Encoder almost has you covered. If you want to explore deeper, go over the most common video formats to see why you need to convert those files.

Part 7: FAQ about Mac Video Conversion

Is it possible to compress a HD/4K video with the lossless quality?
Minimizing the size and lossless compression are two contradictory goals, which means you cannot have both at the same time. However, there are plenty of lossless video formats providing perfect balances between the size and quality, for example, H.264/AVC (x264) will give you 33%-60% smaller size while looks almost like the source video.

How to play 4K videos smoothly?
As mentioned above, 4K videos come in excellent quality but large file size. This causes problems on both computer and mobiles. Most players can't play 4K videos smoothly and the sizes will quickly stuff up the tiny mobiles' space. A 4k video player will solve the problem on a Mac, but for 4K playback on mobiles, you can either export 4K UHD to standard HD, or convert 4K files into smaller file sizes like MP4. Read more: 4k video player >>

How to convert online movies for iPhone or Android?
You can either download online movies with those downloader helpers services online or apps, and then convert it, or leave the job to a single piece of software like MacX Video Converter Pro, which offers maximum convenience by integrating the online video capturing and formats converting into one so that you can convert YouTube into MP4, MP3 etc with only a few clicks.

What's the best codec to convert videos to?
The best codec may vary based on your specific needs. For example, if the Apple devices will be the end place to play the output video, an MOV container using the H.264 codec is your best choice; if you will upload the video to internet, you will need to consider the bandwidth rather than playback hardware and you may choose MPEG-4. For universal use, you can convert MKV/AVI other video to MP4 with H.264 codec as it well balances the file size, quality and compatibility. This is why a MP4 converter for Mac is frequently searched online.

How to keep subtitles when converting videos?
Some users have trouble to carry the subtitles over when they convert MK4 to MP4, for example, with Handbrake. A long missed feature of Handbrake is to be able to hardcode SRT subtitles, so you can extract the subtitles from M2TS or MKV files and add the subtitles to MKV movie separately. But you need to make sure they are in the right formats (.srt). Or you can try hardcode with other converters like MacX Video Converter Pro, which will easily convert videos among formats with burned in subtitles. See how to add subtitles to movie

What's the difference between H.265 and H.264 codec?
H.265, or the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is a video compression standard designed to utilize substantially less bandwidth compared to its precedent H.264, or the Advanced Video Coding (AVC). HEVC promises a 50% storage reduction at the same bit rate and double the coding efficiency of H.264. H.265 has better visual quality at a low storage and bandwidth, which is perfect for streaming 4K/8K videos over the internet. However, it's not a standard codec as universal as H.264 as there are rare hardware to catch up. If you want to play h.265 videos freely, converting H.265 to H.264 is the way. See the difference between H.265 and H.264 >>

Is it possible to play iTunes DRM movies on Android or non-Apple devices?
You cannot play an iTunes purchased movie on non-Apple device directly, firstly, because iTunes M4V files are protected by Apple FairPlay Digital Rights Management(DRM) copyright protection which prevents the files from playing on other mobiles, and second, iTunes M4V, MOV or M4A are not supported by Android or others. To play iTunes movies on Android is easy. You can turn to the best video converter for macOS that can remove the DRM and convert M4V to MP4, H264 or other popular formats. See how to transfer iTunes purchases >>

How to repair a corrupted MP4 file?
Mp4 videos downloaded from web or sent by others may be occasionally bound to playback problems. To repair the corrupted MP4 video, you have three options: recode the MP4 video to other formats like MPEG2 with a MP4 converter for Mac; cut off the broken clips and save as a new MP4 file; or remux the MP4 file with professional editors or muxers.

How can I speed up the conversion process on a Mac?
To boost the speed of video conversion on Mac, you can consider the following aspects:
* Choose a good video converter for Mac. From the internal test part we can see that different converters vary distinctly in encoding speed. An optimized video transcoding software has all of its features poised for quick response and processing.
* Improve your processor. The faster your processor is the faster the video encoding on Mac is going to be.
* Make full use of GPU/CPU encoding. A GPU encoder will speed up the converting on Mac to 16 times than software encoding, meanwhile reduce the burden on CPU. If both CPU and GPU hardware acceleration technologies are supported by the program, the converting can run at full speed.
* Change the output settings. H264 has the best balance of quality and file size, but converting videos to h.264 is processor intensive. You can switch from H264 to MPEG4 in the video codec settings if you don't want to wait, which will speed up the encoding at the expense of file size.

Related Articles and Tips

For any questions with video converter for Mac, please feel free to contact our support team.