Unable to play video (h.264 / mp4) on MacOS Safari browser.
I get a spinning wheel and the video never loads.
The same video plays just fine in Google Chrome, Firefox, iOS Safari, and Safari Technology Preview.
System Specs
• Machine: MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)
• MacOS: Monterey v12.2.1
• Browser: Safari v15.3
• Video: h.264 codec, mp4 wrapper, Res: 1280x720, Data Rate: 1.95Mbit/s. ITU-R BT.709
MacBook Pro with Touch Bar
This is such a bogus answer. Apple is falling apart. Monterey has been a disaster. I can't play mp4 videos on safari either. Works fine on Chrome. I have so many issues with many web sites and Safari now. TaxAct is one example. Safari won't open the dialog box to print a form. It regresses to an old format. Chrome works just fine. Instead of making us do the work to debug your software, start getting your act together.
This is such a bogus answer. Apple is falling apart. Monterey has been a disaster. I can't play mp4 videos on safari either. Works fine on Chrome. I have so many issues with many web sites and Safari now. TaxAct is one example. Safari won't open the dialog box to print a form. It regresses to an old format. Chrome works just fine. Instead of making us do the work to debug your software, start getting your act together.
Hello Cmq-Amq,
We understand you're unable to play specific type of videos in Safari on your MacBook Pro. We'd be happy to assist!
To be sure, are you experiencing this issue with a specific website or all websites that contain videos like this? If this is specific to a website, we'd recommend connecting with the developer of the site directly. If it occurs with multiple websites, we'd like you to try the steps in If Safari on Mac doesn't open a webpage or isn’t working as expected.
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. Have a good one!
Ultimately it seems to have been some sort of a fluke. Tests to date had been
But, get this, eventually -- a couple of days later -- Safari had no problems playing the videos, same as other browsers.
Unfortunately I can't recreate the error and don't yet know what caused it to begin with.
So... problem solved but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
MacOS Safari v15.3 (Monterey) not playing h.264/mp4 video
