MOV to MP4 on Mac
If the .mov already holds H.264 video, renaming it to .mp4 works, and Apple's own support article says so. The rename fails when the video inside is HEVC, which is what an iPhone records on its High Efficiency camera setting. Finder's Encode Selected Video Files and QuickTime Player's Export As can both re-encode to H.264, but each saves the result as .mov, so a form that asks for .mp4 still refuses it. Press writes an .mp4 with H.264 video and AAC audio in one step, and copies an H.264 source into the new container without re-encoding it.
Check the codec first
Select the file in Finder and press Command-I to open Get Info. The Codecs line lists the video and audio codecs, such as H.264 and MPEG-4 AAC, or HEVC and MPEG-4 AAC. With the movie open in QuickTime Player, Window > Show Movie Inspector (Command-I) shows the same information.
If the video codec is H.264, rename the file and you are done. Apple's article Convert a MOV file to MP4 on Mac describes exactly that and notes that the size and resolution stay the same. For any other codec, Apple suggests importing the clip into iMovie, adding it to a movie, and exporting an MP4. Press converts the file directly, as below.
In Press
- Drop the .mov onto Press, or drop a folder to queue every video inside it.
- Under Video, leave the codec on H.264 and pick a resolution. Original keeps the frame size. 1080p and 720p scale the longer edge down.
- Click Convert. Press asks once for access to the folder, then writes name (Press).mp4 next to the source and leaves the original untouched.
What you get
- Container
- .mp4, saved next to the source as name (Press).mp4. The original file is never modified or overwritten.
- Codec
- H.264 video with AAC audio. If the .mov already holds H.264 and AAC and you choose Original with no size limit, Press copies the streams into the new container without re-encoding.
- Quality
- Original uses AVFoundation's highest-quality H.264 preset. 1080p and 720p scale the longer edge to 1920 or 1280 pixels and never scale a smaller clip up.
- Metadata
- AVFoundation carries the source's metadata, such as the creation date, into the MP4 wherever the container has a matching field.
What we measured
Two sources and four settings. The H.264 .mov was copied into the MP4 container untouched, so the size held and the conversion took a tenth of a second. The HEVC clip was re-encoded, so it took longer and its size followed the setting.
| Source | Setting | Output | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| H.264 1080p .mov, 80.8 MB | Original | 80.8 MB .mp4, streams copied | 0.1 s |
| 4K HEVC .mov, 153.5 MB | Original | 189.9 MB .mp4, H.264 at 4K | 25 s |
| 4K HEVC .mov, 153.5 MB | 1080p | 80.8 MB .mp4, H.264 at 1080p | 7 s |
| 4K HEVC .mov, 153.5 MB | 720p | 57.2 MB .mp4, H.264 at 720p | 4 s |
Measured on 2026-10-08 with Press 1.0 on a MacBook Air (M5, 24 GB) running macOS 27.0.1. The video source is a 60-second 4K HEVC .mov at 30 fps with AAC audio: a slow pan across a photograph, with grain added. The H.264 source is the same clip encoded to 1080p. The photo is a 12-megapixel iPhone HEIC. Sizes are decimal megabytes, as Finder shows them. Times are for one file.
Is renaming .mov to .mp4 enough?
When the video inside is H.264, yes. Apple's support article says renaming is enough and that the size and resolution stay the same. When it is HEVC, a renamed file may still play on your Mac and then fail on the device that objected, because the codec has not changed. Check the Codecs line in Get Info first.
Does Press re-encode, and does that lose quality?
When the source is already H.264 with AAC audio and you pick Original, Press copies the streams and nothing is re-encoded. Any other choice re-encodes through AVFoundation at the preset's quality.
Is MOV to MP4 free in Press?
Yes. One file at a time to H.264 at Original, 1080p, or 720p is in the free download. Press Pro adds batch conversion, size presets, 2160p, and HEVC output.
Press converts video and images on your Mac. The download is free, and Press Pro is a one-time $14.99 unlock for batch conversion, size presets, and WebP.