How to convert iPhone HEVC videos to H.264 with VideoProc [sponsor]

The Mac and Windows app VideoProc by multimedia software developer Digiarty is among the most comprehensive video converters out there. Not only does it transcode foreign video formats including MKV, DIVX, FLV and WMV to iOS-friendly formats, but also lets you convert videos in the High Efficiency Video Coding (H.265) format captured with your iPhone to the more compatible H.264 codec, which lets you play them back on older devices.

The problem with iPhone videos

If your iPhone won’t play videos, you’re not alone.

The efficient HEVC (H.265) codec is used as the default capture format for shooting video in iOS 11 and later. If you have upgraded your iPad Pro and iPhone 7 or newer to iOS 11, you probably didn’t realize that the update has changed your default shooting format for video from the more compatible H.264 codec to the more efficient H.265 format.

Due to hardware requirements, playing back H.265 videos on iPhone 6s or older and legacy Mac and Windows computers leads to choppy performance and dropped frames.

iOS 11 camera settings: High Efficiency and Most Compatible settings

Your iPhone’s camera on iOS 11+ by default shoots video using the HEVC codec

The problem is widespread because the relatively new H.265 codec is unsupported by older versions of Apple’s own QuickTime, Photos, iMovie and Final Cut Pro software, in addition to creative Adobe apps, Microsoft’s Windows Media Player on PCs and so forth.

Even if your device or an app such as VLC does render H.265 video, you are very likely going to experience performance issues when playing back 4K video recordings captured with your iPhone at a silky smooth 60 frames per second.

What you need is an easy, effortless way to convert your H.265 videos into the more compatible H.264 format, and Digiarty’s VideProc easily fits the bill—with it, anyone can convert video and audio formats easily with minimal fuss and no quality loss.

Giveaway & iPhone XS Max sweepstakes

For a limited time, Digiarty is giving away 1,000 licenses for VideoProc for Mac or Windows every day from January 11, 2019 through February 20, 2019. In addition, every entrant participates in a sweepstake with grand prizes including a brand spanking new iPhone XS Max, two Marshall Killburn speakers and six Pixi Plus Mini Tripod kits.

To enter, visit Digiarty’s VideoProc giveaway & iPhone XS Max sweepstakes webpage and enter a valid email address to receive your free license key for VideoProc (a $78.90 value). Doing so also gives you a chance to win one of the grand prizes in their sweepstake.

To win more entries, feel free to do any (or all) of the following:

  • Share the contest page
  • Download the VideoProc app
  • Follow their social media accounts
  • Visit the official website

The more entries, the higher your chances of winning the prizes

How to convert iPhone HEVC videos to H.264

VideoProc is a versatile video processing tool that takes full advantage of the power of your computer’s GPU. With its unique Level-3 hardware acceleration, VideoProc delivers up to 47x faster video processing speed while lowering CPU usage to 40 percent.

Thanks to its intuitive interface, you can convert your iPhone videos with a single click, without needing to adjust complex settings manually.

Here’s how to convert your iPhone HEVC videos to H.264:

1) Open VideoProc on your Mac or Windows PC.

2) On the main menu, click the Video button.

Convert iPhone HEVC to H.264 - VideoProc step 1

3) Drag and drop a desired HEVC video on the VideoProc window or click the +Video button near the top-left corner to browse your Mac’s file system and pick your files.

Convert iPhone HEVC to H.264 - VideoProc step 2

3) Select H.264 (MP4) as the output video format in the Target Format column.

Convert iPhone HEVC to H.264 - VideoProc step 3

TIP: To see all the included profiles, click the button Target Format.

Convert iPhone HEVC to H.264 - VideoProc step 4

4) You can now optionally edit your video by using the crop, trim, rotate and flip commands, as well as add effects, subtitles or watermarks, adjust brightness, change contrast and so forth.

 Convert iPhone HEVC to H.264 - VideoProc step 5

You can even deshake/denoise the video, apply fisheye correction, merge individual video clips into a single video or split a large video file into a bunch of smaller clips.

5) To change target video options, click the Codec Option button to adjust parameters like video quality, resolution, bit rate, frame rate, aspect ratio, etc.

Convert iPhone HEVC to H.264 - VideoProc step 6

TIP: To reduce file size significantly and ensure that third-party video players can render your video without stuttering, consider converting a 4K 60PFS video to a 30FPS version.

6) Click Browse to specify a folder on your computer where the app will save the file.

7) Finally, click Run to start converting.

Convert iPhone HEVC to H.264 - VideoProc step 7

The app will now transcode the selected items with their original quality, preserving things like frame rate, bit rate and resolution (unless you changed them manually).

You can now transfer the converted video(s) to your iPhone via AirDrop, Photos etc.

As mentioned before, VideoProc allows you to adjust many parameters to your liking, choose different output formats and so forth. For instance, with just a few clicks you can make an animated GIF file out of an iPhone video. Last but not least, be sure to tick the option labeled Nvidia/Intel/AMD Hardware Acceleration Engine for ultrafast conversion speed.

Summing up

VideoProc is much more than a simple video converter.

Aside from the aforementioned H.265 → H.264 conversion, this convenient software makes it a cinch to download online video from more than a thousand popular websites. With it, you can even convert any type of DVD to an iPhone-compatible video.

The app includes basic video-editing features so you can cut, crop and merge videos, as well as do things like apply filters or add subtitle on videos. VideoProc supports audio formats, too, so you can convert your music to AAC, MP3, AIFF, M4A or another iOS-friendly format for easy playback on your iPhone and iPad. VideoProc even lets you turn a song snippet into an iPhone ringtone, convert 3D video resources to 2D, and much, much more.

Convert iPhone HEVC to H.264 - VideoProc hardware acceleration info

VideoProc takes advantage of your GPU to speed conversions dramatically

Do you capture iPhone screen recordings with QuickTime for Mac but hate that it also captures the annoying red bar in iOS’s status bar? If so, record the iPhone screen with VideoProc!

As if that weren’t enough, the app can also convert, transcode and optimize videos for a number of other platforms thanks to 420 device-specific profiles covering Android, cameras like GoPro, drones, popular video-sharing sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram etc.

Get your VideoProc now

Your iPhone is an awesome camera capable of capturing high resolution, high frame rate video so take full advantage of it in order to preserve memories you care about. As is the norm these days, you’ll want to edit your recordings and share them with others.

Avoiding video compatibility issues is key so you’ll need the right app for that. Rather than inundate you with hundreds of features you’ll never use, VideoProc is focused and easy to use, supports hardware acceleration and has smart features to ensure your videos play back great on any device, no matter the platform or the underlying hardware.

Convert iPhone HEVC to H.264 - VideoProc device profiles

With 400+ device profiles, you’re covered no matter the specific situation you may encounter

To make the most out of your iPhone camera, be sure to grab your free copy of VideoPro by leaving your email address at the giveaway page. Please keep in mind that the giveaway license does not include free updates to future version of VideoProc.

For that, purchase the full VideoProc license with a 60% discount for just $29.95 (regularly $78.90) before the price goes back up on February 20 or download your free trial today.

This article has been sponsored by Digiarty, maker of the VideoProc app.