AV1 format plays in QuickTime on M4 Mac mini, but not M1 Mac mini or older MacBook Air.

[SnarkyBear]

I recently converted some family videos to the AV1 format on my M4 Mac mini. It had no problem playing them so I thought everything was fine. However, when I transferred them to other Macs around the home, I get an error saying the format is not supported.

Both minis are running the most recent version of MacOS, while the older MacBook Air is running Sonoma.
I've tried to google this, but just keep getting sites trying to sell media software rather than getting actual information.

Can anyone explain what is going on?

 

[Bigwaff]

I get an error saying the format is not supported

Post the explicit error. Are you trying to play them using Quicktime Player?

 

[Nermal]

If I recall correctly (and that's a big if), MacOS doesn't have a software AV1 decoder and instead relies on the hardware decoder included in the M3(?) and later.

You're probably better off with HEVC if you want your videos playable on a wide range of Macs.

 

[chabig]

I recently converted some family videos to the AV1 format on my M4 Mac mini.

From what I can tell, macos natively supports H.264, ProRes, and VP8/9. That's it. You'll have to install software to play anything else. You could play them on the machine that created them because your converter software contained an AV1 codec. For the other Macs, install VLC.

 

[bogdanw]

18 April 2026 'Everything you need to know about Apple AV1 Support" https://bitmovin.com/blog/apple-av1-support/
"As of 2026, Apple has not introduced a system-wide AV1 software decoder for video playback. This means that AV1 playback is only supported on devices with dedicated hardware decoding capabilities, such as newer iPhones, Macs, and iPads."

 

[galad]

macOS ships a AV1 software decoder too, but it's used only to decode AVIF files. QuickTime/AVFoundation will playback AV1 only if there is an hardware decoder available.

You'll have to use something else like IINA on your older Mac.