VLC media player for Mac review

VLC Media Player overview

VLC Media Player is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, MP3, OGG, ...) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network.

Note: While the software is classified as free, it is actually donationware. Please consider making a donation to help support development.

What’s new in version 3.0.18

Updated on Dec 01 2022

macOS:
  • Fix audio device listing with non-latin names
  • Update some translations
Misc:
  • Fix rendering and performance issue with older GPUs
Contribs:
  • Update aom

Information

What customer like

Customization

Performance

Design

What needs improvements

VLC Media Player qualities

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VLC media player for Mac review

Dec 2 2022

Version: 3.0.18

VLC v3 looks like a desperate case... The first mp4 I've tested on v3.0.18 has the audio slightly delayed, while it reads perfectly on VLC 2.2.8 and IINA (the current best alternative to VLC in many points). Strange enough, the .ts format has no issue (while, if you read my former reviews, it was precisely that format that had issues in the first v3 versions...) Hoping everything gets fixed someday. ;-)

VLC media player for Mac review

Jun 28 2021

Version: 3.0.16

What do we complain about? It only took 3 years and nearly 4 months for v3 to be on a par with v2.2.8... ;-) v3.0.16 seems to have finally ironed out all the brand new bugs of v3.0.0. Well, I've already had a very strange bug where VLC seemed to suddenly try opening every system file it could find! :-o But except for that, after a few days trial, I can say all works ok! — not that I've found anything better in v3 compared to v2.2.8, but at least it works. :-)

VLC media player for Mac review

Saneman1

Jun 12 2021

3.0.15

Jun 12 2021

Version: 3.0.15

This version isn't on the Developer site.

VLC media player for Mac review

Jun 2 2021

Version: 3.0.14

It's the best what I've found. I can watch everything I want. It's wonderful.

VLC media player for Mac review

Septic Monkey

May 15 2021

3.0.14

May 15 2021

Version: 3.0.14

This is the only video player that doesn't turn the whole screen into green pixels. And, it's free !!!

VLC media player for Mac review

chestmeto

May 12 2021

3.0.14

May 12 2021

Version: 3.0.14

It is one of the best audio-video players. Besides, it is very easy to use and so user-friendly.

VLC media player for Mac review

ivryernest

May 11 2021

3.0.13

May 11 2021

Version: 3.0.13

I don't understand the "new feature" of MacUpdate

VLC media player for Mac review

Tobias_m

Mar 22 2021

3.0.12

Mar 22 2021

Version: 3.0.12

VLC media player for Mac review

Mar 19 2021

Version: 3.0.12

MACUPDATE - the link you posted for the ARM version above has a typo it has a letter 'l' at the end after the 'dmg' https://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/3.0.12.1/macosx/vlc-3.0.12.1-arm64.dmgl AND it used to be possible to not leave a star rating if I just wanted to leave a comment, but now it looks like users are required to give a star rating?

VLC media player for Mac review

Mar 19 2021

Version: 3.0.12

version 3.0.12 Intel crashes on Quit on Mojave and Catalina, after playing any video, consistently (~50% of the time). posted a bug report #25403 on Jan 20....https://trac.videolan.org/vlc/ticket/25403 continuing to use 3.0.11

VLC media player for Mac review

Jan 22 2021

Version: 3.0.12

It seems to have updated to the Big Sur version but before I've updated the system and it doesn't run on Catalina. I haven't stopped using it. I've merely thrown away the old version before realising that the new version doesn't work

VLC media player for Mac review

Jan 19 2021

Version: 3.0.12.1

MACUPDATE please read. VLC is now available in separate Intel and ARM (Apple Silicon) versions, with DIFFERENT versioning schemes. The download you are hosting currently as of this date is the ARM version. As I"ve been telling MU for several months you need to come up with a system/policy for how to document and catalog Universal and/or ARM only apps. There a many Universal apps now, but if you look at the MAc Update page for them, there is no indication that they are Universal and requirements still say Intel-64. VLC is the first app I've seen that comes as separate installers, but logical to think more will come, for whatever reason a Universal app is not available (technical reasons, licensing, size of the executable, who knows). So come up with a system to handle this new world we live in, every day that goes by it only will get more confusing. Maybe that means separate MU pages for each platform in the case of VLC, or you need to host both versions and offer the user a choice which file when downloading. For apps that are now Universal, you need to indicate under requirements that they are universal, because there are users that may want to run native-ARM apps, if available (and if you own an ARM mac, why wouldn't you want to run native apps if available?). What would be great is a search filter to search for Universal apps

VLC media player for Mac review

Derekcurrie

Jan 19 2021

3.0.12.1

Jan 19 2021

Version: 3.0.12.1

NOTE: v3.0.12.1 is specifically for ARM 64 ONLY. Don't bother downloading this version for Intel x86.

VLC media player for Mac review

Jan 19 2021

Version: 3.0.12.1

Intel version crashed on first quit... Back to 2.2.8 once again. :-(

VLC media player for Mac review

Scion777

Jan 19 2021

3.0.12.1

Jan 19 2021

Version: 3.0.12.1

MacUpdate ADMIN: system requirements changed - this won't run on Mac OS 10.13 !!!

VLC media player for Mac review

MichaelHaeusler

Jan 19 2021

3.0.12.1

Jan 19 2021

Version: 3.0.12.1

@MacUpdate: this isn't your fault, because it's a stupid versioning scheme by the VLC developer team. Version 3.0.12.1 is the latest arm64 version, and v3.0.12 is the latest Intel version. If VLC have chosen not to synchronize their version numbers, then MacUpdate have to create two entries (pages) for VLC, one "VLC Media Player (ARM)", and one "VLC Media Player (Intel)". Thank you.

VLC media player for Mac review

Jan 19 2021

Version: 3.0.12.1

Be aware, if downloading your own installer, there are SEPARATE installers for Mac Intel and Mac-ARM (Apple Silicon, M1), rather than one Universal app that runs on both. If you have a mixed environment, you will want both installers. The Intel version will still run Apple Silicon, albeit in emulation Rosetta 2 mode, still fast, but not optimal

VLC media player for Mac review

ivryernest

Jan 18 2021

3.0.12

Jan 18 2021

Version: 3.0.12

Le plus complet des logiciels pour video et audio. Et aussi, le plus professionnel. Merci beaucoup !

VLC media player for Mac review

Derekcurrie

Jun 16 2020

3.0.11

Jun 16 2020

Version: 3.0.11

A Mac Essential. Occasional clunks and bugs show up. But for free, open source software, this thing is amazing. Just a few years ago, the Mac version of the VLC project was literally dead. Thanks and BRAVO to the brave coders who took up the torch and keep it burning!

VLC media player for Mac review

Unblocktheplanet

May 28 2020

3.0.10

May 28 2020

Version: 3.0.10

I've been using VLC since its first release for all media playback. Unfortunately, VLC started to hang my Mac. This is the fault of Apple 'security' updates not VLC But until the problem is fixed by VLC, I can't use VLC or recommend it to others.

Is VLC Media Player safe for Mac?

Such download files are often infected with various kinds of malware looking to find an easy way into your computer. The only option that's 100% safe is to find a VLC download for Mac on its official website: Go to videolan.org/vlc.

Is there a better player than VLC for Mac?

No 1. QuickTime player, the best VLC alternative Mac, is the most familiar media players for Mac users. As the default movie player as Mac, QuickTime player is capable of supporting various formats of videos, music, images, and other media files.

Is VLC Media Player trustworthy?

Apart from its sleek features, VLC media is a hundred percent safe for you to download. It is advisable to download this media player from the approved site. This will keep you free from all forms of viruses. This player is not only protected from intended damages but also spyware and any other type of mischievousness.

Is VLC better than QuickTime on Mac?

Some of the best players are VLC and QuickTime. For Mac users, QuickTime Player is the first choice since it is bundled with Mac OS X. For windows users, it's better to choose VLC Media Player.