SUMMARY: If you can't get higher than 1080p video while using Safari on the Mac, try another browser.

I somehow missed this, but Mac Safari users no longer get a 4K option when viewing videos on youtube.com. The details are here: https://9to5mac.com/2017/01/12/y ... playback-in-safari/ and involve Google's switch to the VP9 codec for more recently uploaded 4K video.

I'm going to test this here with a clip I've confirmed is 4K on Chrome, but only allows 1080p on Safari when viewed on Youtube.



Welp, looks like embedded video still maxes out at 1080p if you are viewiing on Safari, so I guess the 9to5mac link's info is now outdated. So annoying.

Looking into this further, as recently as late November 2017 uploaded 4K videos would render in Safari up to 1440p, not quite 4K, but def better than 1080p.

SUMMARY: If you can't get higher than 1080p video while using Safari on the Mac, try another browser.

I somehow missed this, but Mac Safari users no longer get a 4K option when viewing videos on youtube.com. The details are here: https://9to5mac.com/2017/01/12/y ... playback-in-safari/ and involve Google's switch to the VP9 codec for more recently uploaded 4K video.

I'm going to test this here with a clip I've confirmed is 4K on Chrome, but only allows 1080p on Safari when viewed on Youtube.



Welp, looks like embedded video still maxes out at 1080p if you are viewiing on Safari, so I guess the 9to5mac link's info is now outdated. So annoying.

Looking into this further, as recently as late November 2017 uploaded 4K videos would render in Safari up to 1440p, not quite 4K, but def better than 1080p.