Apple apps such as QuickTime Player, Photos, and Keynote work with many kinds of audio and video formats. Some apps prefer specific formats, but QuickTime movie files (.mov), most MPEG files (.mp4, .m4v, .m4a, .mp3, .mpg), some AVI and WAV files, and many other formats usually work in most apps without additional software.
To play all AVI files, your player must support all of these codecs. So far, no matter you are a Windows user or a Mac user, QuickTime only natively plays AVI files with MJPEG video. As a great open-source QuickTime component, Perian is the saver to allow QuickTime to play all kinds of AVI videos for Mac users. Unfortunately, the latest version. K-Lite Mega Codec Pack includes codecs for the most popular compressions like Divx and Xvid as well as some of the less popular but still necessary codecs. The best K-Lite Codec for Mac – Perian. Perian is one stop codec resource on Mac similar to K-Lite Codec Pack on Windows. Perian is a free, open source, QuickTime component that extends QuickTime support for many popular types of media, including.
MOV was developed for Mac OS and QuickTime application by Apple. MOV supports MP4 codecs like H.264 while AVI does not. On the Internet, where the compatibility demands are high, AVI had become very popular. This format is supported by almost all players, even portable devices like video players and video smart phones. For example TechSmith.com makes a codec for (compreser and decomp.) both the mac and pc. But that is not the trend, Most are made for a pc. WMV file or AVI or MOV are played if the codec is installed. A MOV file can be any number different codecs and yet it is a MOV file (quicktime).
Older or specialized media formats might not work in your app, because the format requires software designed to support it. If that happens, your app won't open the file or won't play back its audio or video.
How to search for an app that works with your file
'QuickTime on Mavericks' is not QuickTime anymore - it is 'AV Foundation'. QuickLook and QuickTime Player are based on this 'new QuickTime'. 'AV Foundation' comes from iOS, was implemented for Mac OS X too and does not offer extensions (and will never) like codecs / plugins.
You might already have an app that supports the format of your file. If you don't know which of your installed apps to try, your Mac might be able to suggest one:
- Control-click (or right-click) the file in the Finder.
- From the shortcut menu that opens, choose Open With. You should see a submenu listing all of the other installed apps that your Mac thinks might be able to open the file.
If none of your installed apps can open the file, search the Internet or Mac App Store for apps that can play or convert the file:
- Include the name of the media format in your search. To find the format, select the file and press Command-I to open an Info window. The format might appear after the label Kind, such as ”Kind: Matroska Video File.”
- Include the filename extension in your search. The extension is the letters shown at the end of the file's name, such as .avi,.wmv, or .mkv.
Learn more
Codecs For Mac Os X
- QuickTime Player (version 10.0 and later) in OS X Mavericks through macOS Mojave converts legacy media files that use certain older or third-party compression formats.
- Learn about incompatible media in Final Cut Pro X and iMovie.