Convert HEVC H.265 to AVC H.264 with QuickTime Player for Mac

HEVC stands for high-efficiency video coding. It is also known as H.265, the successor to H.264. HEVC provides much better compression than H.254 or AVC. This new video codec can compress video files to half the size possible compared to those encoded with H.254 or AVC. HEVC is yet still a double-edged sword. You will find it is not so widely accepted as H264 by all kinds of video players, video editors, mobile devices and computers. In a related article, we discussed why iPhone HEVC MOV videos can’t be import to Adobe Premiere Pro and the fixes. And you may run into more other problems with the new HEVC H.265 videos. In these scenarios, you can use a converter with HEVC support to transcode HEVC or H.265 to AVC or H.264. If you are on Mac, you can simply use QuickTime Player which is pre-installed in Mac OS, to convert HEVC to AVC or H.265 to H.264 for free.

Converting HEVC to H264 on Mac with QuickTime Player

Double click the HEVC video in Finder to open it with QuickTime Player. If it is not set as the default players for HEVC videos on your Mac, right click on the HEVC H.265 video clip in Finder and choose Open With > QuickTime Player. Go to the top menu bar, choose File > Export As, choose output video solution, you will then get a screen like this.

Converting HEVC to H264 on Mac with QuickTime Player

Optionally change the file name, type in tags for the video file, select a different file location; uncheck the Use HEVC option, then hit the Save button to convert HEVC to H264 on Mac with QuickTime Player. It is very easy and fast to transcode HEVC to H264 on Mac.

Converting HEVC to H.264 upon transfer

If the video was shot using an iPhone or iPad which is running on iOS 11 or later, you also have the option on the iOS device to convert HEVC videos upon transfer. Go to iPhone Settings >> Photos >> Transfer to Mac or PC, change it from Keep Originals to Automatic. Then connect your iPhone to computer via USB, select and copy videos from iPhone to computer, those H.265 videos will be converted to H.264 when copying them to your computer via USB.