How to Convert AVI to MP4 on Mac Easily: 5 Methods

AVI, introduced by Microsoft, is the standard video format for Windows machines. Macs, however, do not accept several codecs in AVI containers. As a result, you may have difficulty opening AVI files with Mac apps like Photos, Safari, QuickTime Player, iMovie, Final Cut Pro, etc.

MP4 is a universal video format with maximum compatibility and smaller size than AVI. Converting AVI to MP4 makes it play on Mac without hurdles. Here are 5 methods to convert AVI to MP4 on Mac.

 

A Brief Comparison of 5 Methods

I tested and compared 5 methods. To save time, take a look at the table below to get a basic understanding.

 

Method 1. How to Batch Convert AVI to MP4 on Mac without Losing Quality

The best-recommended software to turn AVI into MP4 on Mac is Cisdem Video Converter. AVI files encoded with any codec are supported, including DivX, AVC, MPEG4, and MJPEG. It's super fast without compromising image quality. If you want to play AVI videos, there's an AVI player integrated into Cisdem Video Converter, too.

Further, it supports video conversion between all kinds of SD/HD/4K formats, such as MKV to MOV, H264 to HEVC, MP4 to MP3, YouTube to MP4, AVI to Android, etc. To facilitate multiple conversions of AVI files at once, batch processing is allowed.

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Steps to batch convert AVI to MP4 on Mac (with h264 codec or h265 codec):

STEP 1. Load AVI files

Cisdem AVI converter for Mac has five interfaces. Drag-n-drop your AVI videos from local folder to the first one for video conversion.

STEP 2. Choose the desired output format – MP4

Click the format profile icon, and a drop-down list appears to bring up the format profile options. Pick up "Video" > "MP4” (encoded with h264) or “HEVC MP4" (encoded with h265). Note: Both h264 and h265 keep amazing visual quality while saving 50%+ bit rate than MPEG-2, Motion JPEG, or other old codecs.

It also covers a wide range of available pre-set devices, choose the Apple iPhone/iPad series, Android smartphones, game consoles, etc. as you like.

STEP 3. Edit AVI files (optional)

The program has useful video editing capabilities: crop AVI; create special effects/watermarks/subtitles/chapters; etc. Click the icon to enter the video-editing mode.

STEP 4. Convert AVI to MP4 on Mac

At the bottom of the interface, choose the destination path for the output files. Finally, click the icon to begin converting AVI files to MP4 in bulk.

 

Method 2. How to Convert AVI to MP4 on Mac Using iMovie

iMovie is an Apple-based video editor with the ability to edit video footage and export it as MP4 or MOV.

But not all types of AVI videos are supported by iMovie. AVI is a multimedia container format, not a specific type of file. It can be compressed by a quantity of codecs. Those AVI videos encoded with Indeo, native DivX, Cinepak, ALaw 2:1, Intel ITU H.263, etc. can’t be put onto iMovie.

So before turning AVI into MP4 on Mac, check if it’s an iMovie compatible video codec.

1. Launch iMovie. Drag and drop AVI clips into it.
2. You might see an alert. Click "Convert" to make your AVI compatible with future macOS versions.
   Note: Many media codecs, like early web videos encoded with the Sorenson codec, work with macOS Mojave and previous versions. In Apple's migration from 32-bit to 64-bit, these legacy codecs were removed entirely. Upon upgrading to Catalina or later, iMovie won't be able to convert AVI files.
3. In the top menu, click “File” > "Share" > "File…". Alternatively, click the "Share" button in the upper right corner > "File".
4. In the file dialog box that pops up, adjust the resolution, quality, and compression settings.
   Don’t set the quality as “Best (ProRes), otherwise the output format is MOV.
5. Hit on "Next", name the exported iMovie MP4 file, and specify the location where to save it.
6. Click “Save”.

 

Method 3. How to Convert AVI to MP4 on Mac with Handbrake

HandBrake is a free video transcoder to convert videos from nearly any format including AVI, unprotected DVD, and BluRay sources. It lets you add multiple AVI files to the queue, and transcode them to MP4 in batches.

1. Launch Handbrake on your Mac. Click “Open Source” to add the AVI video.
2. Select MP4 or a preset format from the pre-set list. Note: Not all presets are in MP4 format. You can check it in the "Save As" column at the bottom.
3. (Optional)Tweak video and audio settings to make your output file more personalized and suitable.
4. Click "Browse" in the lower right corner and select the output path.
5. Click “Start” to make a conversion.

If your have multiple AVIs to process, click “Add to Queue”. Then import another AVI file.

To avoid files being overwritten. Go to the menu bar, click "Handbrake" > "Preferences". In the "General" interface, check "Automatically name output files”.

But Handbrake is not a perfect AVI to MP4 transcoder for Mac, because:

• It can only convert AVI to two formats, MP4 and MKV (no more output options).
• Although it is possible to add more than 1 AVI file to the queue, the fact is that only one is converted at a time.
• Even with H265 compression, the file size increased after conversion. I tested a 26.6MB AVI file. Through Handbrake x265 transcoding, the output file size is 64.2MB (more than twice the size of the original), whereas the size is 20.4MB (no quality loss) via Cisdem Video Converter.

 

Method 4. How to Turn AVI into MP4 on Mac with Command Line Toolbox

As a powerful command-line tool, FFmpeg allows you to convert/stream/record video and audio files. Its advanced codec library - libavcodec ensures high portability and codec quality.

To use this open-source AVI to MP4 converter for Mac, you must know some basic coding techniques. Otherwise, you won't be able to start. The installation of FFmpeg is already very complicated for technical novices.

1. Install FFmpeg on Mac according to the tutorial. If you don't know how to install it, you can directly drag-n-drop ffmpeg from your Mac into Terminal to use it.
2. Find the Terminal app and initiate it.
3. Use the following command line.
   1) Individual AVI file conversion: ffmpeg -i input.avi xxx.mp4. Type the command –i. Add the original AVI video into the terminal. Then enter xxx(the output file name).mp4.
   2) Batch processing multiple AVI files: for i in *.avi; do ffmpeg -i "$i" "${i%.*}.mp4"; done. The script lets you convert entire folders of files.
4. Type the command –i. Add the original AVI video into the terminal. Then enter xxx(the output file name).mp4.
5. Press the “Enter” key to transcode AVI videos to MP4.

 

Method 5. Use Free Online AVI to MP4 Converter for Mac

Online video converter is also a popular way for AVI conversion. Video.online-convert.com is a free online file converter. It has 7 parts: Audio converter, Video converter, Image converter, Document converter, E-book converter, Archive converter and Hash generator.

1. Open https://video.online-convert.com/convert-to-mp4 in your web browser.
2. Click "Choose Files" to upload AVI resources from your Mac. You can also drop the file directly onto the green box area or import it from the cloud storage.
3. (Optional) Scroll down. Customize the file settings.
4. Hit "Start conversion" to turn AVI into MP4 online.
5. Download the MP4 file on Mac.

You can try this free online tool to convert AVI to MP4 on Mac, but don’t ignore its limits and drawbacks:

• The total file size of per conversion can’t exceed 100 MB. That means you can't convert more than 100MB AVI file, let alone 1GB.
• Convert up to 20 videos within 24 hours
• Convert up to 1 AVI file at the same time
• You have to upload your video online for conversion. The video may be copied or leaked by others. Thus don't convert confidential or important videos online.

 

Battle of the Video Format: AVI vs. MP4