How to Play AVI on Mac

What's AVI

Audio Video Interleave (also Audio Video Interleaved) is mostly known as AVI. This multimedia container format was introduced by Microsoft Corp. back in 1992.

These files can contain both audio and video data in a file container that allows synchronous audio-with-video playback. Audio or video content that is compressed with a wide variety of codecs is stored in an AVI wrapper and played in Windows Media Player, if the needed codecs are installed on the computer.

Most frequently used codecs for AVI format are: DivX, XVID, Cinepak, Indeo, DV, MJPEG codec, etc. AVI file format is considered to be the most common format for audio and video data playback on a computer.

The number of Apple Mac users is growing by day, and so do their needs – that is why we keep looking for ways to make most of the Mac's rich functionality. One of the issues any Mac user faces sooner or later is how to play AVI on Mac - the newest operating systems such as Mavericks and Yosemite are not at all good at handling them.

Let us have a look closely at the possible ways to play AVI on Mac

So what does a loyal Mac user usually do when he or she gets an AVI file to playback? Right, launch Mac’s native media player – Quick Time. Only to find out that this is not the right app when it comes to AVI files, especially if you installed the latest OS. The reason is that AVI is not a specific type of file; it’s a container format, and there is no single codec for it. Till recently many users managed to go about it by installing Perian. Thanks to this plugin QuickTime could support a wider variety of commonly used video formats, including AVI. However Perian development is currently on halt, and the older plugins no longer work with the latest operating systems.

So what should one do if they opt for the latest OS X version, i.e. El Capitan or Sierra, and still want to enjoy watching AVI files on their Mac. We suggest looking into third party apps, and here is a couple of free AVI Players for Mac you might want to consider:

Elmedia Multiformat Player

With this AVI player for Mac you can play all commonly available formats like FLV, MP4, AVI, MOV, MP4, DAT, MP3, etc. There is a good deal of options that can enhance your video viewing: 10-band equalizer, video tuner, aspect ratio adjustment, adjustable playback speed, the app’s native volume control, etc.

1. Buy and open the application
   Buy Elmedia Multiformat Video Player from Mac App Store with your Apple ID. Note that you'll need a valid payment method to be associated with your account. Click the price icon (Buy) right under the app image. After the purchase is completed Elmedia will download to your Mac.

2. Install and open the player.
3. Play the videos.
   It is very easy to do and you can choose one of the convenient ways to add the AVI files to Elmedia Player library.
• ★ Drop the AVI file or files to the app window or onto its icon in the Dock.
• ★ Right-click AVI file in Finder and select "Open With". to choose Elmedia Player as an app to open the video.
• ★ Use "File" menu then "Open...".

4. Have fun!
   Watching your AVI video in Elmedia Multiformat Player - your essential AVI Mac player - is not the only thing you can do! It supports FLV, RM and RV (Real), MOV, MP4, WMV, and many more.

VLC Player

This app is a popular AVI Mac player. Beware though that the quality of AVI playback with VLC player certainly needs an improvement, and the app itself consumes quite a bit of CPU memory.

MPlayerX

A less known AVI player Mac that supports most of the popular formats, including MPEG, VOB, AVI, ASF, WMA, WMV, VIVO, QT, MOV, MP4, OGG and many more.