Level 1

109 points

FCP 12.3: PNG in project causes export to fail on M4, works on M2

In an effort to track down more information for an open Apple Support ticket, maybe someone else has ran into this.

macOS 26.5.2 - freshly installed on an M4 Mac mini with 24GB RAM.
Final Cut Pro 12.3 - freshly installed on that M4 Mac

Existing projects that export fine on an M2 Mac fail on the M4 - no error, no pop up, it just starts, then a second or two later it fails.

I spent time with Support trying to figure out what was happening. There appears to be an issue with PNG and other files that affects the M4 but not the M2. Files that export fine on the M2 are not working on the M4.

I have four different PNGs I use, and they all fail.

I opened them up in preview, then exported a fresh PNG file. Same problem.
I converted them to HEIF, and tried them. Same failure. Again, works fine on the M2.
I converted them to TIFF, and tried them. Same failure.

But the more I check the more it looks like some kind of image handling issue with the M4 version of macOS.

M2 - just fine.

M4 - no export.

I have been focusing my testing on PNG files initially, and someone already pointed me to an older topic where someone had a very large PNG that would crash FCP. These are not very big. They are just logos (nadir logos for 360 video).

I can reproduce the failure -- but only on the M4 -- in both normal 1080 videos, and 360 videos now. Earlier today, they worked on normal videos on the M4, and now they do not. It is intermittent.

Has anyone had any issues with PNG files on an M4 Mac with the current macOS and FCP versions?

Mac mini (M4, 2024)

Posted on Jul 8, 2026 3:09 PM

Top-ranking reply

joema

Level 4

1,643 points

Posted on Jul 12, 2026 9:11 AM

It currently seems isolated to the M4, so other CPUs might not cause this. I can test on M2 Pro, M4 Pro, M1 Ultra and M1 Max (testing in progress right now), but I don't have an M5.

The simplest scenario is to resize a PNG image using Preview to 12001 x 12001 at 300 dpi. Procedure:

With image open in Preview, navigate to the top menu bar and select Tools > Adjust Size....
Set the Units: In the dialog box that appears, look at the dropdown menus immediately to the right of the Width and Height fields. Ensure they are set to pixels.
Adjust the Dimensions (X/Y):
Type 12001 value into the Width field.
Type 12001 value into the Height field.
Use 300 dpi (not sure this matters but it's what I used)

Then do this on an M4 running FCP 12.3:

Create a new library
Import the one 12001 x 12001 PNG file
Create a manual 1080p project (I used 23.98 fps but I don't think it matters)
Put only the PNG on timeline
Export this way: File > Share > Export File > Settings, Format: Computer, Video Codec: Single-Pass, Resolution: 1920 x 1080.

It fails 100% of the time with the FCP error "Share Failed." Examination of the macOS log via the terminal command "log show" indicates these errors:

(AppleProResHW) ERROR: AppleProResHW (0x67a7f6b8): 5547: processDecodeFrameDone(): HW error decStatus=2 status0=0x37046000 statusCode=55 status2=0x2 crccrd0d=0x66c2da58 crccrd1d=0xe57e399c

VTDecoderXPCService[53788]: (AppleProResHWDecoder) ERROR: AppleProResHW (0x67a7f6b8): 2151: <private>(): failed decoding proresStatus=2 HWErrorCode=0x37 convertedForEmit=0xffffcd91

VTDecoderXPCService[53788]: (AppleProResHWDecoder) AppleProResHW (0x67a7f6b8): <private>(): Emit to client status=0xffffcd91 for subFrameId=2

So it is failing to decode the input, not to encode the output.

I am examining the actual failure mode as part of gathering background info to support filing a high-quality bug report. I'll also conduct additional testing to determine boundary conditions, such as file type, timeline composition, etc.

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40 replies

BenB

Level 6

13,824 points

Jul 11, 2026 5:12 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Movie theater projectors are 2.5K and 8K televisions have flopped.

But yes, 12Kx12K is HUGE and that can absolutely cause issues with FCP (and other apps). No reason to be that gianourmous in video work.

Allen Huffman Author

Level 1

109 points

Jul 11, 2026 11:49 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Ian R. Brown wrote:

I am baffled and curious.

Why would anyone need a 12,000 x 12,000 image? Those figures had not registered in my mind until now . . . I suppose I was thinking 1,200 x 1,200.

For sure! Though we'd have to ask Apple, etc. since they clearly support huge images for some reason. This does remind me of all the "why do we need HD" and then "why do we need 4K" and now "why do we need 8K" talk. I remember all the endless "debates" about how sitting across the living room looking at a 1080 display was more pixels than our eyes could make out.

The highest resolution TVs commercially available (8K) are 7680 x 4320 and I don't know of anyone who has one.

Can cinema projectors resolve more and if so, is the human eye able to tell the difference under normal viewing conditions?

Or has the PNG to be so big because there is a need to zoom dramatically (like 10x) into it?

I have never had a need for anything like that, but I suspect folks do this for zooming, or panning an image across the screen. There must be a need or the video apps wouldn't support it. One would hope.

Jul 12, 2026 9:59 AM in response to Allen Huffman

I have tried the test files and indeed after exporting and seeing the progress wheel zip round I find there is nothing there.

OK, you have managed to find something that will not work correctly but there are so many alternative/workarounds that it is not worth bothering about.

It reminds me of the chap who complained to the doctor that he got a headache every time he banged his head against the wall . . .

Jul 12, 2026 10:30 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

The “DPI” setting has no relevance when working in video. It is only relevant when printing the images. The “DPI” spec tells the printer (ink jet, laser or printing press) how many dots per inch to print on the paper. That’s it.

In electronic imaging it is only the pixel count that matters.

Allen Huffman Author

Level 1

109 points

Jul 12, 2026 11:41 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Ian R. Brown wrote:

I have tried the test files and indeed after exporting and seeing the progress wheel zip round I find there is nothing there.

OK, you have managed to find something that will not work correctly but there are so many alternative/workarounds that it is not worth bothering about.

It reminds me of the chap who complained to the doctor that he got a headache every time he banged his head against the wall . . .

I agree. "Do not use known test files that don't work on the M4". But why would anyone intentionally try to do that?

Just remember -- this is not an issue with 12001. That was just a way to recreate the failure.

I found this issue with normal logo files I have been using for years without issues on my M2. Only when I passed my project off to someone with an M4 did I find out they could not export them. I had three normal logo file PNG files that cause this failure.

I have no workaround for using my actual logo files. The software I have access to (Preview, Graphic Convert, Gimp) produces files that do not work not the M4 -- whether it be PNG, HEIF, TIFF, etc. -- but they all work fine on my M2.

Allen Huffman Author

Level 1

109 points

Jul 13, 2026 2:03 PM in response to joema

joema wrote:

On my M4 MacBook Air, it also fails with images having these frame sizes:

8048×8065

8048×8079

8192×8193

8000×8321

Nice. I think once we get a normal small image, the whiners may stop whining. But probably not.

Maybe I'm too far removed from graphics software (my web coding days are 20 years behind me) but alpha was is transparency, yes? That would be why I hit it, since I have a round logo. Kudos to your efforts. I am going to see if I can make something closer to a 500x500 nadir size image make it fail.

oigoigo

Level 1

8 points

Aug 10, 2026 11:11 AM in response to joema

Hello! Any updates on this? I recently got a Mac Studio M4 Max and encountered this issue. Seems bonkers to me. I got this specifically to use with FCP for video editing. Do you know if it's something they will address in an upcoming update?

Luckily I was able to export in the M1 Pro Macbook but it's not a workaround I want to have to forced to use.

Jul 9, 2026 12:57 AM in response to Allen Huffman

Just curious but is it essential for you to use PNGs?

Would JPEGs, TIFFs etc. be unsuitable?

Jul 10, 2026 8:44 AM in response to Allen Huffman

It's such a unique problem that I doubt whether they will do anything especially as there are so many workarounds.

Jul 12, 2026 8:59 AM in response to Allen Huffman

I have just realised I used Photomator not Preview as Preview refused to create a 12,001 image . . . see screenshot:-

How do you get Preview to create an image that size?

FCP 12.3: PNG in project causes export to fail on M4, works on M2