This article shows you how to download movies on Mac with different ways in 2024.
It's a good idea to download movies to watch them on a plane or anywhere else with no or poor Internet connection. Can you download movies on MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and iMac? The answer is definitely yes. Actually, there is more than one way to do this. Some of them are free.
Below are some common ways to download movies on Mac, Windows or mobile. And they will be covered in this article.
YouTube is one of the best places online to watch movies, TV shows, news and live streaming content, just to name a few. It's super easy to watch free movies there, but it's not that straightforward when it comes to downloading them. Don't worry! The instructions below will show you how to easily find and download free movies from YouTube to Mac.
Step 1. Download and install video download software iFunia Video Converter. Launch it.
Free Download macOS 10.11 or later
Step 2. At the top of the interface, there are three tools: Video Conversion, DVD Ripping, and Video Download. Choose the third tab, Video Download.
Step 3. Copy the link address of a YouTube movie and paste it in the URL box at the bottom. Then click the + icon next to the box to start parsing. You can add multiple links to download in batch.
Step 4. Choose the format and resolution you need from the Format options.
Step 5. Click the download icon, and it will start saving the movie to your Mac.
Pro tip: You can use the app's conversion feature to convert downloaded movies to any format you need.
You can also use iFunia Video Converter(which supports 1000+ sites) and the similar steps to save movies from sites like Dailymotion, Vimeo and more.
If you want to download files from Internet, torrenting can be a good choice. It's an extremely popular system for quick peer-to-peer file sharing. Downloading torrent movie and video files on Mac requires specialized software. You’ll need a torrent website, a Mac torrent downloader and a movie player.
The first step is to open your Internet browser, be it Safari, Internet Explorer or Firefox, etc. Go to a torrent hosting website listed above.
Use the site's search box to find the movie you wish to download. When you search, note the seeds and peers counts listed on the movie torrent files. Peers are other downloaders like you, while seeds are those who already have the movie file and are sharing it with the peers.
Download the movies' torrent files. Note that they are not the actual movie, but files used by a torrent downloading application to download movies on Mac. Open a new window in your browser and use a search engine to find a torrent downloader application for Mac.
Below are two free torrents clients that you can use.
Once you have downloaded a torrent, however, you may have to convert, unzip or decompress the file before it is available for playing on a Mac and Apple devices. By using the aforementioned iFunia Video Converter, you can convert torrent movie files into MPEG format and any other video format. MPEG video files typically have .mp4 or .m4v extensions and can be played on iTunes on computer and iPad, iPhone and iPod and other players and mobile devices.
Step 1. Download iFunia Video Converter. Install and run it.
Free Download macOS 10.11 or later
Step 2. Drag the downloaded torrent movie files into the app. You can add multiple files to convert in batch.
Step 3. Click the Format button to open the output format window. Click General Video and select the format you need.
Step 4. Hit the Convert button on the right corner to start conversion.
Netflix is definitely one of the best and most popular video streaming services. It has over 130 million subscribers. If you are one of them, then it's very likely that you can download movies from the site. Netflix officially allows subscribers to download movies (not all of them though) to view offline on iOS, Android, Fire OS and Windows. As can be easily noticed, macOS is currently not among the supported operating systems. As a result, it's not possible to download Netflix movies this way.
But there's a workaround. You can record the screen of your Mac as you play a Netflix movie. If your Mac runs on macOS Mojave, you perform a screen recording by pressing Command + Shift + 5. Earlier versions will need QuickTime Player. Also, there are many third-party recorders available.
One of the benefits is that you can play the captured movie using the media player you like. With the official method, the playback is only supported on Netflix apps. Of course, the drawbacks are obvious. It's far less straightforward. Also, there will be downgrade in video quality when compared with the original source. It's a better idea to download offline Netflix movies on a supported device.
Amazon's Prime Video is also a popular service to provide movies and television shows. Just like Netflix, it also lets users download movies for offline viewing. However, this offline mode only applies to Fire tablet, iPhone, iPad and Android devices. Apple computers are not supported.
To make it's possible to watch Amazon Prime movies offline on Mac, you will need to resort to screen recording. Thanks to macOS' built-in screen recorder, it's not that hard to do.
On a side note, Hulu, another big name in the content streaming industry, offers the offline viewing feature for users enjoy shows and movies on their travel freely.
When it comes to downloading movies to Mac, one can hardly miss out the iTunes Store. You can find movies of almost all genres there, from action to romance. To be able to download a movie to watch offline, you need to purchase it first. There are also free movies there. Just try to type "free movies" in the search box in the upper right corner of iTunes for Mac.
The Internet Archive is an online digital library where you can find, among others, free movies. And many of them are in public domain. On the Movies page, you can watch and download movies, documentaries, trailers, etc. Most of them are grouped by type like Sci-Fi/Horror, Comedy Films, Silent Films, Home Movies, etc. On the left side of the page, you can easily filter movies by year, topic, language and more.
It's easy to download movies on a Mac for free from the site. Open a film. Navigate to the right part of the page and find the Download Options section. Hover your mouse over the format you need, and a download button will appear. Click the button. Some common available formats include MPEG4, MPEG2 and OGG.
The site is dedicated to offering public domain movies for view and download. There is no search feature, and you can only look for movies by category or tag. Each movie comes with a poster and a detailed introduction. To download, click the poster to open a movie and click the option Download Movie [Video Format: MP4].
Above are the common ways on how to download movies on Mac. Thanks to the offline viewing modes provided by some of the big online movie content providers, things become extremely easy. In addition, you can also efficiently rip movies from sites like YouTube. Are you a big fan of movies? Do you know other easy ways to download movies? Welcome to share your opinions and thoughts!
Cheryl has been writing tutorials, reviews, and how-to articles on consumer apps since 2016. She specializes in multimedia products and is always testing on Mac, PC, and various devices.
