Although a "QT movie" video file with ".MOV" was recorded on an iPhone, my Macbook Air gives the following message: "QuickTime Player can't open "IMG_9358~video.MOV"." How can I fix the problem?

How can I fix the problem?

MacBook Air 13", OS X 10.11

Posted on Jan 30, 2020 6:25 PM

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Posted on Jan 31, 2020 6:17 PM

Newer iPhones can record in a format that isn’t supported by older OS X versions.

Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices - Apple Support


The solution is to

  • make new recordings in a more compatible format, so that those do not need conversion. On iPhone: Settings﹥Camera﹥Formats﹥Most Compatible
  • convert existing videos to a more compatible format. This can be done during transfer. On iPhone: Settings﹥Photos [and videos]﹥Transfer to Mac or PC﹥Automatic. ‘Automatic’ refers to detecting the capabilities of the computer on the other side of the USB cable.
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Jan 31, 2020 6:17 PM in response to ZekiWolf

Newer iPhones can record in a format that isn’t supported by older OS X versions.

Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices - Apple Support


The solution is to

  • make new recordings in a more compatible format, so that those do not need conversion. On iPhone: Settings﹥Camera﹥Formats﹥Most Compatible
  • convert existing videos to a more compatible format. This can be done during transfer. On iPhone: Settings﹥Photos [and videos]﹥Transfer to Mac or PC﹥Automatic. ‘Automatic’ refers to detecting the capabilities of the computer on the other side of the USB cable.
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Feb 1, 2020 11:02 AM in response to ZekiWolf

Agree with Urquhart - .MOV video file can be recorded with different compression codecs (e.g. h.264 or HEVC). The likely problem is that you've recorded the video file with a newer compression (HEVC), while your QuickTime Player doesn't support it. You may either convert HEVC to H.264, like Urquhart described this. Or use a video player that supports HEVC. For example, VLC is a free media player that supports most of the video file and compression types.


The other problem with the file could be that the video is not finalized (the file misses a header, which could be a result of some glitch). If this is the case, you won't be able to play it in ANY media player. In this case, you will have to use a .MOV repair tool. Here is a great article on how to fix .MOV files: https://restore.media/blog/repair-mov-file

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Although a "QT movie" video file with ".MOV" was recorded on an iPhone, my Macbook Air gives the following message: "QuickTime Player can't open "IMG_9358~video.MOV"." How can I fix the problem?

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