AV1 is the best video format for the web. It’s supported by all web browsers. However, for Safari, support depends on the hardware. Older Apple devices can’t play AV1 video on the web, even if they’re running the latest version of iOS and Safari.

In 2023, Apple unveiled their M3 chip, the first Apple chip to support AV1 decoding. The press release read:

All three chips in the M3 family also have an advanced media engine, providing hardware acceleration to the most popular video codecs, including H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW. And for the first time, the media engine supports AV1 decoding, enabling power-efficient playback of streaming services to further extend battery life.

2023 also saw the release of the iPhone 15 Pro, which included hardware-accelerated decoding via the A17 Pro chip.

Apple has taken a significant amount of to time to upgrade its full-range of products to the latest chips. Some devices skipped the M3 and went from the M2 to the M4. Below is a list of the first Apple devices to support hardware-accelerated AV1 video decoding:

	Release date	Chip
iPhone 16	2024	A18
iPhone 15 Pro	2023	A17 Pro
iPhone SE	Does not support hardware decoding
iPad	Does not support hardware decoding
iPad Mini	2024	A17 Pro
iPad Air	Does not support hardware decoding
iPad Pro	2024	M4
Mac Mini	2024	M4
iMac	2023	M3
Mac Studio	Does not support hardware decoding
Mac Pro	Does not support hardware decoding
MacBook Air	2024	M3
MacBook Pro	2023	M3