Apple TV Supported Video Formats and How to Play Any Video (MKV, AVI, etc.)

In short, .mp4, .mov, and .m4v are the only container formats supported by Apple TVs.

But there are also restrictions on how the video is encoded. To know whether your video can be played on your Apple TV, compare your video with the video specs provided by Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD below.

🔔 Note:

• Apple TV 4K supports 4K HDR playback with Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG. Apple TV HD supports up to 1080p without HDR.
• Audio support stays similar across both devices, with Dolby Atmos available on Apple TV 4K.
• Use MP4 or M4V files for best compatibility.
• For older Apple TV video specs, you can visit https://support.apple.com/specs/appletv.

As you can see, the range of supported video and audio formats is very limited. This means that many common formats are not supported, such as MKV, AVI, WMV, FLV, VOB, WebM, RMVB, ISO, DivX, Xvid, VP8/VP9, DTS audio, and so on.

If Apple TV cannot play your video files directly, you can easily resolve this issue by converting the video format, using AirPlay for screen mirroring, or streaming via a third-party media player.

- Convert Videos with an Apple TV Converter [🔥 Best Solution 🔥]

Converting unsupported videos to an Apple TV-supported video format is the most effective and reliable solution. This will make your videos natively playable on Apple TV, so you can have the best playback quality without lag.

To complete the format conversion, we recommend this Windows-based program, WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro. It can work as a dedicated Apple TV converter, offering ready-made Apple TV presets to help you convert various videos to be compatible with Apple TV in one click. It also allows batch conversion with hardware acceleration. Additionally, the software can maintain excellent image quality during the process to ensure a crisp viewing experience on your TV.

Please free download free download the video converter and follow the instructions to get started.

Step 1: Open WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory on your PC and enter the "Converter" program. Next, click the "+Add Files" button to import the unplayable videos into the converter.

Step 2: On the right side of the converter, click the format icon to unfold the output format list. Next, go to the Apple device section and choose the "Apple TV" profile directly.

Alternatively, you can select MP4, MOV, or M4V as the output format under the "Video" category and then adjust the settings, such as choosing H264 for the video encoder and AAC for the audio encoder, to match Apple TV specifications.

Step 3: Finally, choose an output folder at the bottom of the interface and hit "Run" to start the conversion. After the conversion, you should be able to stream the converted video files to Apple TV over AirPlay successfully.

- Screen Mirror Videos to Apple TV via AirPlay (⚠️ poor quality)

Videos converted using the first method can be directly AirPlayed to an Apple TV. If you don't want to convert the files, you can try screen mirroring. This method is not restricted to file formats, and as long as your device can play the video, you can watch it on your Apple TV.

🔔 Note: Screen mirroring will mirror everything that's on your device screen on your Apple TV, so whatever you do on your device will also appear. Therefore, this method is not recommended to use in public. Also, playback quality is generally lower due to screen resolution limitations.

How to Screen Mirror Videos to Apple TV from iOS:

1. Ensure your iOS device and Apple TV are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

2. Open Control Center by swiping down from the top-right corner of the screen (or up from the bottom on older iOS versions).

3. Tap "Screen Mirroring".

4. Select your Apple TV from the list of available devices.

5. Play your video using a compatible media player app on your iOS device.

How to Screen Mirror Videos to Apple TV from Mac:

1. Make sure your Mac and Apple TV are on the same Wi-Fi network.

2. For Big Sur or later, click the "Control Center" icon in the menu bar, click "Screen Mirroring", and select your Apple TV from the list.
For Catalina or earlier, click "AirPlay" icon in the menu bar, then choose your Apple TV from the list.

3. Play your file using a media player on your Mac.

- Stream Videos to Apple TV using Third-Party Media Players (for technical users)

While Apple TV's default media player won't play your videos, you can use a third-party media player app like VLC or Infuse, which supports a wider range of formats. But it requires a bit of network setup first, and not suitable for non-technical users.

How to Set Up VLC on Apple TV:

1. On your Apple TV, go to the App Store and search for "VLC".

2. Download and install the VLC app.

3. Use VLC's network streaming feature to access AVI files stored on your local network.

How to Set Up Infuse on Apple TV:

1. Search for "Infuse" in the Apple TV App Store.

2. Install the Infuse app.

3. Infuse can automatically detect media servers on your network, or you can manually add network shares.

You can stream videos from your iPhone or iPad to an Apple TV using AirPlay or Home Sharing, but the format has to be compatible in order to play. Apple TV has the best compatibility with MP4 files with H264 video and AAC audio. This combo makes for reliable playback on Apple devices and prevents conversion issues. Apple TV 4K also supports HEVC video and HDR formats including Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG for higher quality content.

It's important to check your video's codec, resolution and audio format to know whether it's supported by your device. And don't worry if it's not, because you can use an Apple TV converter like WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro to convert the video to an Apple TV-friendly format in just a few clicks. And this is the method I most recommend to fix unsupported video format on Apple TV.

That said, besides converting videos to play on Apple TV, you can also screen mirror the videos or streaming them over a third-party media player.

That's all I wanted to share about the Apple TV video formats and how to play unsupported videos on Apple TV. Thanks for reading!

1. Does Apple TV support MKV playback?

No, Apple TV does not support MKV container format natively. To play MKV videos on Apple TV, you need to convert MKV to MP4 or M4V format first.

2. Why Apple TV cannot play AVI files?

AVI is an old container format developed by Microsoft, which generally uses video codecs such as DivX or Xvid that Apple TV does not support. Apple TV 2nd and 3rd generation had minimal support for Motion JPEG AVI files, but Apple removed native AVI support on Apple TV HD, 4K and later tvOS versions altogether.

3. Which video format is best for Apple TV?

The best video format for Apple TV is MP4 encoded with H.264 video and AAC audio. It provides full compatibility across all Apple TV generations.

4. Can I play videos on Apple TV using a USB drive?

No, Apple TV does not have USB ports for media playback, and it primarily supports streaming content via the internet or from other devices using AirPlay.

5. Can I play videos on Apple TV using Plex?

Yes, Plex is another excellent option for streaming media files to Apple TV. It can transcode your unsupported files into a compatible format on-the-fly, which means you don't need to convert your files beforehand.

6. How do I fix "This video is in a format that cannot be streamed to this TV"

This error happens when direct AirPlay streaming sends an incompatible video file to Apple TV. You can solve it by using Screen Mirroring or converting the file to Apple TV supported format with HD Video Converter Factory Pro.