iMovie crash on macOS High Sierra

Same problem: since High Sierra update, I movie would crash when opening when my MPB is connected to my Thunderbolt Display and the lid is closed.

Thanks to your post, I check with the lid open, and iMovie starts properly on the build-i retina display, and from them I can move the windows to the external display... Not ideal, but I least a work around.

Let's hope Apple fixes this!

Hi, Frederic,

The first thing to do is to update iMovie 10.1.7 to 10.1.8 that was designed for High Sierra. If that doesn't fix it, take a look at this thread for more things you can try.

iMovie Crashes Error Code 0x02000148

-- Rich

Hi there! I found the cause of the crash iMovie and Final Cut! CamTwist 3.2 Beta was installed om my system, the whole problem is because of it! You must uninstall CamTwist or upgrade to version CamTwist 3.4 final. My problem is solved!

I had a similar issue. For no apparent reason iMovie would crash when I tried to share a movie in any way. I solved it by deleting iMovie and downloading it again. When the new download started up there was a dialog saying that the iMovie Library was repaired. Works fine now.

This problem also with MBP 2012 retina (High Sierra) with thunderbolt dual-dvi connection to 30" cinematic display. Lid open on the machine allows iMovie to start without crashing. However, I was unable to export a project to a file. Progress circle never started. Upon disconnecting external monitor, everything worked fine. ps one of the replies here included an extensive dump log (note: not the comparatively brief error report in the original report). Isn't there a way to link to another location for that? Scrolling past it to read other comments was tedious.

After upgrading to Mac OS High Sierra on my Macbook Pro (using an external Mac monitor), iMovie would launch and then immediately close and generate an error message. The only way to get it to work was to launch iMovie with the laptop lid open and then, once it was launched, close the lid and continue working on the external monitor. Apple -- FIX THIS ISSUE!!!

I'm having the same issue. I'm on an MacBook Pro mid-2014 15" Retina. The lid being closed seems to be the issue for me as well. After reading some of these posts I tried launching it with the lid open and sure enough, it started up with no issue. What the heck? I prefer having it tucked away on the shelf as I mostly use a monitor with a keyboard and mouse. I would have bought an iMac but wanted the ability to take it along as needed so the MacBook Pro was my choice. Never really any issues but since this last update (OS High Sierra) I've had the issue with iMovie, and worse, AirDrop is not playing nice either. I have to literally open AirDrop on my Finder every time I want to transfer from my iPad. Then it just gets almost done and halts, and never finishes importing. Anyhow, hoping these things are addressed soon as clearly it is not just me or my Mac!

Thanks for the tip, I have the same problem. Deleted prefs, didn't work, deleted app, didn't work.

Unplugged MBPro from Thunderbolt display and iMovie opens fine. Thanks for the work around but clearly Apple (if you're listening) you need to fix this ASAP.

Thank you for your post.

It works for me, too!

I have an LG 21,5" monitor connected by Thunderbolt 3. If I want to run iMovie with my MacBook Pro 2016 closed, it crashes. If I put up the internal display and see the same desktop in both monitors, iMovie opens.

I have a question open with Apple Support since a month ago and they did not give me any solution!!

Best regards

Same issue here with closed MacBook Pro and LG 5K monitor. If I launch the iMovie when the MacBook Pro is open and close it after it continues running fine.

It seems when the MBP pro is closed it may use a different video card?

I can run iMovie with my MBP open but it crashes when closed. Hope apple fixes this

I have to say that after reading through this tread, I just used the "contact apple" link to reach out. The fix was pretty simple. We deleted iMovie and reinstalled it. Now, I recognize that if you had an old version of iMovie that you preferred, and many do as Apple has seen fit to dumb it down over time, then you're out of luck. In the end, this little fiasco is making me consider seriously the time investment to learn Da Vinci. It's free and powerful. (I have no connection with Da Vinci; I'm just becoming a fan given what it can do, the freemium model, and the online community. It's just so robust that I feel like I'll need a week to learn it.) Good luck to all sorting through this iMovie issue.

What version of iMovie were you using on Mavericks and what version on High Sierra? If it was iMovie 11 version 9 that is not compatible with High Sierra and you need to update to 10.1.8.

I just updated to High Sierra yesterday in the middle of an iMovie project (in hindsight, I definitely should have waited!!). Anyhow, iMovie crashed every time I tried to import anything directly from my memory stick. While the importing problem was most frequent issue, the program crashed or closed itself at other random times as well, including a couple of times while attempting to "share". It was unrelated to opening or closing the lid of my MacBook Pro. The only way I was able to import photos and videos was to bring everything into Photos first, then from there import to iMovie, which I hadn't needed to do this before installing High Sierra.