MP4 Can’t be Played on iPads, Why?

Probably, people think that only DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray ISO, MKV can’t be played on iPads. You never thought that your MP4 files can’t be moved or played on iPad one day. But it indeed happened:

“I created a movie using Adobe Lightroom 3. It creates an MP4 video file. It plays in iTunes and all my other video players. However, when I try to synch to my iPad I am told that the file was not copied to my iPad because the file will not play on it.”

“Moved some local MP4 files to my iPad Pro but they cound’t be played. Strange.”

To make the issue clear, you should know which MP4 files are supported by iPad (including iPad Pro, iPad Air 3, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 4, iPad Mini 3, etc):

iPads supports MP4 encoded with H.264/MPEG-4 with AAC-LC audio while MP4 video can be encoded with H.263, H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, XviD, MPEG-4, etc. So H.265 MP4, Xvid MP4 and other MP4 with iPads unsupported codec won’t be played on iPads. Even H.264/MPEG-4 MP4 with non-AAC audio can’t be streamed well on iPad. You maybe only have video but no sound or video and audio out of sync issue. When you can’t move MP4s to iPads or you can’t play MP4 on iPads but the MP4 files can be played on iTunes well, you can try the tips below:

1. You might want to try some simple stuff like restarting such.

2. To create an iPad version — go to File –> Create New Version –> Create iPad version.

3. Just Use VLC and drag’n Drop any kind of video files. >> See other iPad Video Players.

From time to time, your MP4 videos from HD torrent site or 4K source will be encoded with new H.265/HEVC codec or some old MP4 is XviD codec, the tips above seems to be useless. In this case, the following way will be the last try. It must be effective unless your iPad is broken. That is to re-encode any MP4 files to H.264/MPEG-4 MP4 with AAC audio using MP4 Video Converter for any iPad models: iPad Pro, iPad Air 3, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad Mini 4, iPad Mini 3, iPad Mini 2, iPad Mini 1, iPad 4/3/2/1, etc. If you have “MP4 Can’t be Played on iPhone/Apple TV” issue, this way is also useful. Now lets’ start the solution.

Convert MP4 to iPads for Playing without any Hassle

Step 1: Download and install Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate. 

Features of Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate

• Ren-encode any H.263, H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, XviD, MPEG-4 MP4 to H.264/MPEG-4 MP4 for iPads
• Convert MP4, MKV, AVI, WMV, ISO, etc to iPad playable MP4, MOV, M4V.
• Convert SD/HD/4K video to iPad optimized preset.
• Allows you adjust video size, codec, bitrate, frame rate and audio codec, channel.
• Add external srt/ass/ssa subtitle to video.

Mac users, please download Pavtube iMedia Converter for Mac. Learn >> top 5 reasons to choose Pavtube iMedia Converter for Mac.

Step 2. Load MP4 files

Run the MP4 to iPad Converter for iPad. Click “File” to load one or multiple .mp4 file(s) into the program. Batch conversion is supported so that you can add multiple files for conversion at a time.

Step 3. Set video format for iPad

Set output video file format for your device. Here you can go to Format > iPad and then select your iPad model like “iPad > iPad Air HD Video (*.mp4)”. If there is no your iPad models, you can click format bar and choose common video format mp4 supported by any iPad model.

Tip:

a. If the preset video/audio parameters can’t meet your needs, just click Settings icon to adjust the video bitrate, codec, frame rate, audio sample rate, audio channel, etc.

b. If you wanna keep your original subtitle or add new, you can click on “Edit” button, the video editor will pop up. Tap “Subtitle” option and check the “Enable” icon. Then, by clicking on “Browse” to add *.srt, *.ass, *.ssa subtitle file you’ve downloaded.

Step 4. Start the MP4 files conversion

You can hit the big red “Convert” to start converting MP4 files to MP4 with best video settings for iPad.

After the conversion, click “Open output folder” in the conversion window, then transfer them to iPad, then you will be able to play MP4 files on iPad Air, iPad Pro and iPad Mini.

Related Software:

Pavtube ByteCopy for Windows/Mac – It can rip Blu-ray and DVD to iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad Mini, iPhone, Apple TV playable MP4, MOV and M4V with original video quality.

Related Articles:

• VLC Media Player on iPhone iPad Not Accepted AC3 Codec? Solved!
• How to Play Downloaded YouTube Video on iPad Pro 9.7?
• Watch 2015 Oscars Winners on Tablet/PC/iPad
• How to Play TiVo Recordings on Android Tablet/iPad while traveling?
• Backup Blu-ray/DVD to Windows Home Server for Viewing via iPad