How to Convert MOV Files from iPhone to MP4

Before you can convert an iPhone video, you need to get the file off your phone or access it from a conversion tool. There are several methods for transferring iPhone videos, each with different advantages.

AirDrop is the fastest wireless transfer method for Mac users. Select the video in your Photos app, tap the share button, and choose your Mac from the AirDrop list. The file transfers directly over a peer-to-peer wireless connection at high speed. The received file will be in MOV format and can then be converted on your Mac.

The Lightning or USB-C cable connection lets you transfer files directly to any computer. On Windows, connect your iPhone and open it in File Explorer. Navigate to Internal Storage, then DCIM, then the numbered folders that contain your camera roll. The video files will be in MOV format with names like IMG_1234.MOV. On Mac, you can use Image Capture, the Photos app, or Finder to import videos from a connected iPhone.

iCloud Photos provides seamless access to your videos across all your Apple devices and through iCloud.com on any web browser. If iCloud Photos is enabled, your iPhone videos are automatically uploaded to iCloud and accessible from your computer. Download the original MOV file from iCloud to convert it.

Third-party cloud services like Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive let you upload iPhone videos from the share menu and then download them on any device. This is particularly useful if you need to transfer videos to a Windows or Linux computer without a cable.

Email and messaging apps can work for short video clips, but these services typically compress and transcode videos during transmission, which reduces quality and may change the format. If quality preservation matters, use one of the direct transfer methods instead.

The simplest approach for many users is to skip the transfer entirely and convert directly on the iPhone. ConvertFree works in the iPhone's Safari browser, so you can select a video from your camera roll, convert it from MOV to MP4, and download the result, all without transferring the file to another device first. This is especially convenient when you just need to share a single video and do not want to set up a cable connection or wait for a cloud upload.

There are several approaches to converting iPhone MOV files to MP4, ranging from browser-based tools to desktop software. The right choice depends on your specific needs, how often you convert videos, and your technical comfort level.

Browser-based conversion with ConvertFree is the fastest and most accessible method. Open ConvertFree.io in any browser, upload your MOV file, select MP4 as the output format, and click convert. The conversion runs entirely on your device using WebAssembly technology, which means your video file never leaves your computer or phone. This method requires no software installation, works on any operating system, and handles the conversion in minutes. It is ideal for occasional conversions and for users who prioritize privacy since no files are uploaded to external servers.

HandBrake is a free, open-source desktop application available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It provides extensive control over encoding settings, including codec selection, bitrate, resolution, frame rate, and audio processing. HandBrake is well-suited for users who need fine-grained control over the encoding process or who regularly convert large batches of files. The learning curve is steeper than browser-based tools, but the software is powerful and completely free.

VLC Media Player, primarily known as a video player, also includes conversion capabilities. You can convert MOV to MP4 through VLC's Convert/Save menu. The interface is not particularly intuitive for conversion tasks, but VLC is widely installed and can serve as a quick conversion tool when it is already available on your system.

FFmpeg is the command-line tool that powers many video conversion applications behind the scenes, including many browser-based converters. Using FFmpeg directly gives you maximum control and the fastest possible conversion, but it requires comfort with command-line interfaces and knowledge of the correct codec and container parameters.

Apple's own tools offer limited conversion options. QuickTime Player on Mac can export MOV files in a few preset formats, but the options are limited. iMovie can export as MP4 but adds overhead as a full editing application. Neither is optimized for simple format conversion.

For most users, the browser-based approach strikes the best balance between convenience, quality, and privacy. You get a converted file in minutes with no software to install and no files leaving your device.

When converting MOV to MP4, the quality settings you choose determine the visual fidelity, file size, and compatibility of the output. Understanding these settings helps you make informed trade-offs.

The video codec is the most important setting. H.264, also known as AVC, is the most compatible choice. Every device, browser, and platform supports H.264 playback. It provides good visual quality at reasonable file sizes and is the safe default for any conversion. H.265, also known as HEVC, provides better compression efficiency, meaning smaller files at the same visual quality or better quality at the same file size, but compatibility is less universal. Older devices and some web browsers do not support HEVC. If you know your target audience has modern devices, HEVC is the better technical choice. If compatibility is paramount, choose H.264.

The bitrate controls how much data is allocated to each second of video. Higher bitrates mean better quality and larger files. For 1080p H.264 video, a bitrate of 8-12 Mbps produces excellent quality suitable for most purposes. For 4K, 20-40 Mbps is a reasonable range. If file size is more important than quality, you can reduce the bitrate, though going too low will introduce visible compression artifacts such as blocking, banding, and loss of detail in complex scenes.

The resolution setting determines the pixel dimensions of the output video. You can maintain the original resolution or downscale to a lower resolution. Downscaling from 4K to 1080p cuts the pixel count by 75%, which significantly reduces file size. For sharing on social media, 1080p is sufficient since most platforms do not display resolutions higher than this anyway. For archival purposes, maintaining the original resolution preserves the full detail of the recording.

The frame rate should generally match the source video. iPhones can record at 24, 25, 30, or 60 frames per second depending on the settings. Converting 60fps video to 30fps halves the amount of data and can give the video a slightly more cinematic feel, but it discards half the temporal information. Keep the original frame rate unless you have a specific reason to change it.

The audio codec in the output MP4 is typically AAC, which is the standard audio codec for MP4 files. AAC at 128-256 kbps provides excellent audio quality for virtually all content. iPhone videos typically record audio in AAC already, so the audio may be stream-copied without re-encoding, preserving perfect audio quality.

Modern iPhones record video using HEVC, or H.265, by default when the camera is set to High Efficiency mode. Understanding HEVC is important because it affects both compatibility and conversion decisions.

Apple introduced HEVC recording with the iPhone 7 and iOS 11 in 2017. HEVC provides approximately 40% better compression than H.264 at equivalent visual quality, which means iPhone videos take up significantly less storage space. A one-minute 4K video recorded in HEVC might be 170 MB, while the same video in H.264 could be 300 MB or more. This compression advantage is the primary reason Apple adopted HEVC as the default.

The compatibility challenge with HEVC is that not all devices and software can decode it. Windows 10 and later versions require a codec extension from the Microsoft Store to play HEVC video, though it may come pre-installed on some systems. Older Android devices running Android 4 or earlier do not support HEVC. Some web browsers, particularly older versions, cannot play HEVC video natively. Video editing software from before 2017 typically does not support HEVC at all.

When converting iPhone HEVC video to MP4, you have two main options. You can transcode from HEVC to H.264, which involves fully decoding the HEVC video and re-encoding it in H.264. This process is computationally intensive and will increase the file size, since H.264 is less efficient than HEVC, but the result is a universally compatible video file. The visual quality loss from a single well-configured transcode is minimal.

Alternatively, you can remux the HEVC stream into an MP4 container without re-encoding. Since both MOV and MP4 containers support HEVC, this operation simply repackages the video data without changing the encoding. The result is a smaller file that retains the HEVC compression advantage, but with the same compatibility limitations. This option makes sense when you know the recipient has a device that supports HEVC playback.

To check whether your iPhone is recording in HEVC or H.264, go to Settings, then Camera, then Formats. If High Efficiency is selected, your videos are recorded in HEVC. If Most Compatible is selected, they are recorded in H.264. You can switch between these modes at any time, though High Efficiency is recommended for daily use since it saves significant storage space.

ConvertFree handles both conversion paths. You can convert HEVC MOV to H.264 MP4 for maximum compatibility, or remux HEVC MOV to HEVC MP4 for a quick, lossless repackaging that preserves the smaller file size.

iPhone videos contain rich metadata beyond the video and audio streams, and preserving this metadata during conversion ensures you do not lose important information.

Creation date and time is perhaps the most important piece of metadata. Every iPhone video records the exact date and time it was captured. This timestamp is what allows your Photos app to organize videos chronologically and display them on the correct date. During conversion, this timestamp should be preserved in the output MP4 file so that media libraries and file managers can still sort the video correctly.

GPS location data is embedded in iPhone videos if location services are enabled for the Camera app. This metadata records the latitude, longitude, and sometimes altitude where the video was recorded. Location data is valuable for organizing travel videos and remembering where moments were captured. However, if you plan to share the converted video publicly, you may want to strip the location data for privacy reasons. Some conversion tools give you the option to preserve or remove GPS metadata.

Camera settings metadata includes information about the iPhone model, lens used, frame rate, resolution, exposure settings, and whether features like stabilization or HDR were active during recording. This technical metadata is useful for photographers and videographers who want to reference their capture settings later.

Orientation metadata tells the video player whether the video should be displayed in portrait or landscape mode. iPhones record video in a single physical orientation and use a metadata flag to indicate how the video should be rotated for display. If this metadata is lost during conversion, the video may appear rotated 90 degrees or upside down. A good conversion tool preserves orientation metadata correctly so the converted MP4 plays in the same orientation as the original.

HDR metadata is relevant for videos recorded using Dolby Vision or HDR10 on newer iPhones. This metadata contains tone mapping information that tells compatible displays how to render the expanded dynamic range. Converting HDR video to a standard dynamic range format involves tone mapping the image, which changes the visual appearance. If you want to preserve the HDR look, make sure your conversion settings and output format support HDR metadata.

ConvertFree preserves standard metadata including timestamps, orientation, and basic camera information during MOV to MP4 conversion. For files where specific metadata preservation is critical, verifying the output with a metadata inspection tool after conversion is a good practice.

If you have a collection of iPhone MOV files that all need to be converted to MP4, doing them one at a time is tedious. Batch conversion processes multiple files in a sequence or simultaneously, saving significant time when working with many videos.

The need for batch conversion commonly arises after transferring a large number of iPhone videos to a computer. Perhaps you have returned from a vacation with 50 video clips in MOV format and want them all in MP4 for editing in a Windows video editor. Or you might be a content creator who regularly transfers iPhone footage to a PC-based editing setup and needs a consistent MP4 workflow.

ConvertFree supports processing multiple files through its browser interface. While truly simultaneous parallel processing of multiple large video files can strain browser memory limits, you can queue multiple files and process them sequentially. Upload several files, configure your output settings, and the tool processes each file in turn. This approach works well for moderate batch sizes, such as 5-20 videos, depending on the file sizes and your device's capabilities.

For very large batches of 50 or more files, desktop tools like HandBrake offer dedicated batch processing features. HandBrake's queue system lets you add hundreds of files, configure individual or uniform settings, and start a batch that runs unattended. The software will process each file sequentially, using your computer's CPU and GPU for encoding. A modern computer can convert a large batch overnight without supervision.

FFmpeg, the command-line conversion tool, is the most efficient option for large batch conversions. A simple script can process an entire directory of MOV files, converting each to MP4 with specified settings. The efficiency of FFmpeg's direct command-line operation, without any graphical interface overhead, makes it the fastest batch processing option. For users comfortable with the command line, a one-line loop command can convert hundreds of files with a single execution.

Regardless of the tool you choose for batch conversion, a few best practices apply. First, verify your settings on a single file before starting the batch. Convert one representative video, check the output quality and file size, and adjust your settings if needed. It is much better to discover a problem with one test file than to find it after processing 100 files with incorrect settings.

Second, ensure you have enough storage space for the output files. If you are converting from HEVC MOV to H.264 MP4, the output files will be larger than the originals. A rough estimate is 1.5 to 2 times the size of the HEVC source. Calculate the total size of your source files and multiply accordingly.

Third, keep the original MOV files until you have verified that all converted MP4 files play correctly and contain the expected content. Only delete the originals after confirming the conversion was successful. Storage is inexpensive, and re-recording lost footage is usually impossible.

Fourth, use consistent naming conventions for your output files. Many batch conversion tools let you specify an output filename pattern. Using a pattern that preserves the original filename while adding the new extension, such as converting IMG_1234.MOV to IMG_1234.mp4, keeps your files organized and easy to match with the originals.