It is much more convenient to watch videos on iPhone or iPad instead of computer. With cinema-standard colors, an iPhone or iPad can give you better viewing experience. If you have MP4 video on computer, you may like to transfer MP4 video files from PC to iPhone or iPad and enjoy at anytime or anywhere. With the right tools, you can easily transfer MP4 video files to your iPone or iPad, but some methods of doing this are better than others. For example, using a third-party device manager will often be easier than doing it manually, as you will see.

How to Transfer MP4 to iPhone/iPad from PC/Mac

You can transfer MP4’s either with a good third-party device manager or with iTunes. Let’s look at each of them:

1 Professional Way: Transfer MP4 Video to iPhone without iTunes from PC/Mac (iOS 16 Supported)

If you need an application to transfer videos, iMyFone iPhone Transfer is by far the best one. It can transfer MP4 video from your computer/Mac to iPhone 14/13/12/11/X/8/7/6/SE/5, or even from your iPhone to your computer or other iOS 14/13/12 devices.

Main Features about TunesMate

  • Sync MP4 video to iPhone without covering your iPhone current video library.
  • Transfer MP4 video to iPhone from computer, iTunes, MP4 player, external HD, etc.
  • Selectively extract media from iPhone to computer, not only purchases, but also non-purchases.
  • Add MP4 to iPhone directly from computer or external HD instead of going through iTunes library.
  • An ultimate iTunes alternative that bypass iTunes limits and unknown errors. -- by geekreply.com, tricksworldzz.com, etc.

Try It FreeTry It Free

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Steps to Copy MP4 Video to iPhone from Computer/Mac/External HD without iTunes

Step 1: Install iMyFone iPhone Transfer on your PC or Mac. Plug in your iPhone via USB. On TunesMate, click on the “Video” tab at the top.

Step 2: Click “Add,” then “Add File.”

transfer mp4 to iPhone

Step 3 Choose where you locate the MP4 videos and select the files to transfer.

transfer mp4 to iPhone

Note: If you want to add videos in other formats which are not supported by iPhone, iMyFone iPhone Transfer will automatically convert them to the supported one. So you can play the videos once done.

Besides, iMyFone iPhone Transfer helps you to enrich your iTunes library without losing any data, which allows you to share purchased or free music/videos among different Apple IDs.

  1. You can utilize the “Transfer iDevice Media to iTunes” feature to add media to your iTunes library from different iOS 14/13/12 devices.
  2. Then apply the “Transfer iTunes Media to iDevice” to transfer all the media files to your different iPhone.

It can transfer and manage all kinds of media on your iPhone running iOS 8 to iOS 14 or later., not just video. You can transfer music, photos, playlists, and more. You can also transfer media between devices and detect duplicate content for deletion. It has many functions that will help keep your media organized.

2 Traditional Way: Transfer MP4 Files to iPhone with iTunes (Free)

Of course, you can still use free iTunes for this if you want. Follow these steps to operate it:

Step 1: Move MP4 Videos to iTunes Library

  1. Launch iTunes. Hit the “Music” library from the top left corner and change it to “Movies”.
  2. Go to “File > Add File to Library”.
  3. Choose where you store the MP4 videos and select them to transfer.

add file to library

Step 2: Sync MP4 to Your iPhone X/8/7/6/SE/5

  1. Plug in your iPhone.
  2. Hit the device icon from the top left corner on iTunes.
  3. Click on “Movies” from the left menu.
  4. Check “Sync Movies” at the right panel and select MP4 videos.
  5. Click on “Sync” button to start syncing MP4.

sync movie

Once done, you can use iPhone default videos player or any other third-party videos player to enjoy the MP4 you add.

Attention:

  • If your iPhone is already synced to another iTunes library, it will erasing everything on your iPhone when you continue the syncing.
  • If it is the first time your iPhone synced to this iTunes library, every media files will be removed if you want to sync MP4 to your iPhone.

transfer mp4 video to iphone

Transfer MP4 Video Files without or Using iTunes?

Let’s take a quick look at these two methods and compare:

Apps/Metrics
iTunes
Support all video formats
yes
Transfer video selectively
yes
yes
Sync files to iPhone without data loss
yes
Drag and drop files to iPhone
yes
Add files directly from computer to iPhone
yes
Sync to iPhone from different iTunes without erasing
yes
Extract files from iPhone
Only Purchases
Both Purchases & Non-purchases
How many iDevice supported
Only 5
Unlimited

See, TunesMate is much more flexible and gives you more convenient options than iTunes.

What to Do When You Can't Play Videos from iTunes on iPhone

To get certain videos to play on your iPhone, you’re going to have to convert them first if they are not purchased from iTunes Store. If you’re using iTunes, this is what you do:

  1. Launch iTunes.
  2. Pick which video you want to convert from your files. If they’re not already on your playlist, then add them (drag and drop).
  3. Go to File, then Convert, then "Create iPod or iPhone Version."

After this, the new version of your video should appear in your playlist and be ready to use.