Source: https://mactoolbox.app/glossary/hevc-h265

# What is HEVC (H.265)?

By Nikhil Barik · Published November 3, 2026

## Quick answer

HEVC, or High Efficiency Video Coding, is also known as H.265. It makes video files roughly half the size of H.264 at similar quality, but takes longer to encode and may not play on older devices.

## What HEVC is

HEVC is a video codec, the method used to squeeze video into a smaller file. It is the successor to H.264. iPhones record in HEVC by default when High Efficiency is chosen in camera settings.

## Why it matters on a Mac

Modern Macs play HEVC and many have hardware that encodes it quickly. Older computers, some TVs and some web services may not play it, which is the main reason people still pick H.264.

## How to check it on macOS

Open the video in QuickTime Player and choose Window > Show Movie Inspector. The Format line lists the codec, for example HEVC. Media Info in Toolbox shows the same detail for every track.

## How Toolbox handles it

Compress Video and Convert Video both offer H.264 or HEVC. Compress Video also has a hardware encoder option for speed. Choosing HEVC gives files about half the size at similar quality, and the originals are not changed.

## Frequently asked questions

**Should I use HEVC or H.264?**

Use HEVC when you want the smallest file and your viewers have newer devices. Use H.264 when it must play everywhere.

**Is HEVC lossless?**

No. It is a lossy codec, though High quality settings look very close to the original.

**Why is HEVC slower to encode?**

It does more analysis per frame to save space, which takes more processing time.

## Tools mentioned

- [**Compress Video**: Shrink video files while keeping them looking great.](https://mactoolbox.app/compress-video-mac)
- [**Convert Video**: Change videos to MP4, MOV, WebM or M4V.](https://mactoolbox.app/convert-video-to-mp4-mac)
- [**Media Info**: See the codec, resolution, frame rate, bitrate and metadata of videos and audio.](https://mactoolbox.app/video-codec-info-mac)

## Keep reading

- [Compress Video](https://mactoolbox.app/compress-video-mac)
- [Media Info](https://mactoolbox.app/video-codec-info-mac)
- [H.264](https://mactoolbox.app/glossary/h264)
- [Codec](https://mactoolbox.app/glossary/codec)