Avidemux on Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) Macs

Q: Can M1/M2 Macs run Avidemux natively?

There is no official native arm64 release of Avidemux. You can run the official x86_64 macOS nightly under Rosetta 2, which works well, or use an unofficial community native arm64 build such as the hsk/homebrew-avidemux Homebrew tap (unverified by this site).

Q: macOS says Avidemux “cannot be opened” — what do I do?

This is Gatekeeper blocking the app because it is not Apple-notarized. Right-click (Control-click) the app in Finder, choose Open, then click Open in the confirmation dialog. You only need to do this once.

Yes — Avidemux runs on Apple Silicon Macs (M1, M2, M3, and M4), but there is no official native arm64 release. The official macOS nightly builds are x86_64 and run through Apple’s Rosetta 2 translation layer. Community developers also publish unofficial native arm64 builds — for example the hsk/homebrew-avidemux Homebrew tap — which this site has not independently verified.

Avidemux.net is an independent community resource site — not the official Avidemux project. The official project lives at avidemux.org and on GitHub at mean00/avidemux2. Version facts below: v2.8.1 (2022) is the latest stable release; v2.8.2 is the development/nightly line, not a stable release.

The current situation

Avidemux does not ship an official native Apple Silicon (arm64) binary. The project’s macOS nightly builds, published at avidemux.org/nightly, are x86_64 (Intel) builds. On an M1/M2/M3/M4 Mac they run under Rosetta 2, Apple’s built-in Intel-to-ARM translation layer — and in practice they run well: the community reports smooth cutting, filtering, and encoding with hardware decoding enabled.

Recent nightlies are Qt6 builds, which also bring better display and Wayland-adjacent rendering behavior on modern systems. If you want a native arm64 binary without Rosetta, your only option today is a community build.

Option 1: official x86_64 nightly via Rosetta 2

This is the simplest and safest route — the code comes straight from the official project:

Download the latest macOS nightly from avidemux.org/nightly (see our download page for guidance).
Open the DMG and drag Avidemux to Applications.
On first launch macOS may offer to install Rosetta 2 — accept it. (You can also install it manually from Terminal: softwareupdate --install-rosetta.)
If Gatekeeper blocks the app, see the fix below — it takes ten seconds.

Rosetta 2 translation happens once at install/first launch; day-to-day editing feels native for typical cut-and-encode work.

Option 2: community native arm64 build (unofficial)

Third-party, unofficial, unverified. The hsk/homebrew-avidemux Homebrew tap is a personal project that compiles Avidemux2 from source as a native arm64 app with Qt6 — no Rosetta 2 required. It is not affiliated with the Avidemux project, and this site has not independently verified its builds. Use it only if you understand the trade-off.

Installation via Homebrew:

brew install --cask hsk/avidemux/avidemux2-arm64

or, equivalently:

brew tap hsk/avidemux
brew install --cask avidemux2-arm64

Launch the GUI from a terminal with avidemux-gui & (a wrapper the cask installs), or open the app from Finder/Spotlight. Do not invoke the binary inside the .app bundle directly — Avidemux resolves its Qt plugin paths relative to how it was launched, and calling the inner binary breaks that.

The tap’s build is ad-hoc signed only, not notarized by Apple; its installer automatically clears the quarantine flag, so it should open without a Gatekeeper prompt. The tap maintainer notes the official Homebrew cask (brew install --cask avidemux) is currently disabled upstream over a Gatekeeper check failure — this tap exists as a community workaround.

Rosetta 2 vs native arm64: comparison

	Official x86_64 nightly + Rosetta 2	Community native arm64 (hsk tap)
Source	Official project nightly (avidemux.org/nightly)	Third-party GitHub tap, compiled from upstream source
Architecture	x86_64, translated by Rosetta 2	Native arm64, no Rosetta needed
Qt version	Qt6 (recent nightlies)	Qt6
Signing	Not notarized — Gatekeeper right-click needed	Ad-hoc signed, not notarized — quarantine auto-cleared on install
Trust	Built by the official project	Built by a community member — unverified by this site
Best for	Most users; safest choice	Users who want to avoid Rosetta and accept third-party builds

Gatekeeper: “cannot be opened” fix

Neither the official nightly nor the community build is Apple-notarized, so macOS Gatekeeper may refuse to open it with “cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified.” Fix (one time only):

In Finder, right-click (Control-click) the Avidemux app and choose Open.
In the dialog that appears, click Open again.
Done — macOS remembers your choice and the app launches normally from now on.

Terminal alternative: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Avidemux*.app

VideoToolbox hardware acceleration on macOS

Avidemux supports Apple’s VideoToolbox for hardware-accelerated H.264 decoding on macOS — enable Decode video using VideoToolbox in the preferences for smoother preview and scrubbing. Community-compiled native arm64 builds additionally expose VideoToolbox encoders for H.264 and HEVC, which can speed up exports considerably; encoder availability in the official x86_64 nightly may vary.

One honest caveat: files encoded elsewhere with hardware VideoToolbox encoders (for example HandBrake’s H.265 VideoToolbox preset) can hit demuxer quirks in Avidemux — if you get a “MUXER Cannot open” error when saving, try re-encoding with Avidemux’s own encoder instead of Copy mode.

Get Avidemux for Mac

Head to our download page for the current macOS builds and checksums. Remember: v2.8.1 is the latest stable release; anything labeled 2.8.2 is a development nightly.

Frequently asked questions

Can M1/M2 Macs run Avidemux natively?

Not with an official build — there is no official native arm64 release. You can run the official x86_64 nightly under Rosetta 2 (works well), or use an unofficial community native arm64 build such as the hsk/homebrew-avidemux Homebrew tap, which this site has not verified.

macOS says Avidemux “cannot be opened” — what do I do?

That is Gatekeeper, because the app is not Apple-notarized. Right-click (Control-click) the app in Finder, choose Open, then click Open in the confirmation dialog. You only need to do this once.

Does the Intel version of Avidemux work on Apple Silicon Macs?

Yes. The official macOS nightly is an Intel (x86_64) build and runs on M1/M2/M3/M4 Macs through Rosetta 2. Install Rosetta when macOS prompts you (or via softwareupdate --install-rosetta) and the app runs normally.

Is Avidemux slower under Rosetta 2?

For typical cutting, trimming, and preview work the difference is negligible. Heavy software encoding may run somewhat slower than a native build; enabling VideoToolbox hardware decoding/encoding narrows the gap, and the community native arm64 build removes it entirely.