Why Can't I Play HEVC Video on My MacBook Pro/Air/iMac?

If you're trying to play a HEVC (H.265) video on your MacBook Pro, Air, or iMac, you may have encountered some issues. The fact is that HEVC files are not supported by Photos app and QuickTime Player, which means you cannot play 4K H.265 videos without an installation of x265 codec.

The fundamental reason behind this is that HEVC is not widely supported. For instance, Handbrake encoded HEVC MP4 videos can't be played on macOS High Sierra or later in QuickTime, resulting in a choppy playback or no picture at all. Similarly, VLC may freeze when playing HEVC files, pop up an error message 'No suitable decoder module' or simply display an error message 'Photos cannot play this video because it uses an unsupported format'.

However, many users have realized that they can't play HEVC videos on Mac via Photos, VLC, and QuickTime. This is particularly frustrating for those who have access to and use this codec for better video quality and smaller size.

Fortunately, there's a solution to enjoy XviD encoded video on your Mac OS X. You can download the XviD plugin for QuickTime, which allows you to play XviD encoded AVI videos. Additionally, you can use third-party software like Aurora Blu-ray Player for Mac, MPlayer, or VLC Media Player to read and play XviD movies.

Aurora Blu-ray Player for Mac is one such software that can easily play XviD encoded video formats without any difficulty. It's mainly used as a free media player for playing Blu-ray disc/Blu-ray ISO movies, but it can also play other formats like AVI, MP4, and MKV.

XviD codec is particularly useful because it compresses video files to make them smaller while retaining better quality than other codecs. Unlike DivX compression, which is proprietary software, Xvid is free software distributed under the terms of the GPL. It can even compress video at a ratio of 200:1 or more compared to uncompressed video.

In conclusion, if you're struggling to play HEVC videos on your Mac, consider using XviD codec and third-party software like Aurora Blu-ray Player for Mac to enjoy better quality video playback.

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