How to Convert AAC Audio Files to MP3 Format on Mac?

"How do I convert AAC files to MP3 format on Mac computer? - I have some audio files in AAC format and I now need to save these AAC audio files in MP3 format to play them back on my MP3 player. Is there any wonderful Mac AAC to MP3 converter to convert AAC files to MP3 format on my Mac computer? Any free tools to do this? Please show me some detailed information or steps."

Music bought from iTunes Store comes in the AAC digital audio format. While many people think that AAC is superior to MP3, AAC files are not compatible with as many devices as MP3 (though AAC works pretty widely). Therefore, you may need to convert AAC to MP3 so that you could play and enjoy your AAC songs on any MP3 compatible players. This guide offers detailed steps on how to convert AAC to MP3 on Mac with different Mac AAC to MP3 converter tools.

Note: This guide only focuses on converting DRM-free AAC audio files in iTunes and other AAC audio files without DRM protection. You can only convert songs from AAC to MP3 if they are DRM-free. If you are to convert iTunes DRM music to MP3 audio files, you need to turn to iTunes DRM removal tool to remove DRM and convert iTunes DRM audio to DRM-free files.

Part 1: Brief Introduction to AAC and MP3

As the successor to MP3, AAC, short for Advanced Audio Coding, is a digital lossy audio file format that takes up less storage space but provides higher audio quality than an MP3. Like MP3s, the quality of an AAC file is measured based on its bit rate. Common AAC bitrates include 128 kbps, 192 kbps, and 256 kbps. In AAC files, in order to compress CD-quality audio into files that take up less storage space, data that will not impact the listening experience is removed. As a result of the compression, AAC files do not sound identical to CD-quality files, but generally sound good enough that most people don't notice the compression.

Many people think AAC is a proprietary Apple format, but this is not correct. While Apple has adopted AAC for its music, AAC files can actually be played on a range of non-Apple devices, including the game consoles and mobile phones running Google's Android OS, among others.

On the other hand, MP3, short for MPEG-2 Audio Layer-3, is by far the most popular and widely adopted digital lossy audio format in the world. Songs saved in the MP3 format take up less space than the same songs saved using a CD-quality audio format like WAV (more on that format later). Generally speaking, an MP3 file takes up about 10% of the space of a CD-quality audio file.

At the same bit rate, AAC files offer better sound quality than MP3 files at less storage. However, AAC file format is less popular among various media players and devices, while MP3 has been the most popular audio format in the world, accepted by almost all media players and devices.

Part 2: How to Convert AAC to MP3 on Mac with Leawo Video Converter for Mac

To convert AAC files to MP3 format on Mac, you need to make use of AAC to MP3 converter tools. There are quite a lot of Mac audio converters that could help you do this. Leawo Audio Converter for Mac, a built-in audio converter within  Leawo Video Converter for Mac, offers you the best AAC to MP3 converting experience. It could easily handle audio conversions between various audio formats, like AAC, MP3, FLAC, etc. on Mac OS X 10.7 and later. It could even let you merge several AAC audio files into one MP3 file for continual listening.

Download and install Leawo Video Converter on your computer. Check the below guide to know how to convert AAC to MP3 on Mac with this Mac AAC to MP3 converter.

Step 1: Add source AAC audio files

After downloading and installing Leawo Video Converter for Mac, launch it and then open the "Convert" tab. After that, click the "Add Video" button to browse and add AAC files you're your local drive for loading to this video converter. Or you could directly drag source AAC songs into it for converting.

Step 2: Set output format

After loading source AAC files, on the main interface, click the clickable icon right before the big green "Convert" button and then choose "Change" option on the drop-down panel to enter the "Profile" window. Then, consecutively open "Format > Common Audio" tab to choose "MP3 Audio" as output format.

Optional: The audio parameters like audio codec, bit rate, quality, channel, etc. of the output MP3 files could be adjusted. To do these, you need to choose "Edit" option on the drop-down panel after setting output format as mentioned in the above step.

Step 3: Set output directory

After setting MP3 audio as output format, return to the main interface and then click the big green "Convert" button. On the popup sidebar, set output directory in the "Save to" box. You could also open the target folder to get preview.

Step 4: Convert AAC to MP3 on Mac

Then, at the bottom of the popup sidebar, you could see a "Convert" button. Click it to start converting AAC file to MP3 format on Mac.

You could view all converting tasks on the converting panel. You could also cancel any converting anytime you like, and set after-done operations at the bottom right corner.

Leawo Video Converter could not only convert audio files on Mac between different formats for you, also it could convert videos between 180+ formats like MPEG to MOV, MTS to iMovie, MP4 to MP3, etc. and convert photos into video on Mac.  

Note: If you're using Windows PC, you could use Leawo Video Converter  to handle video and audio conversions at no cost Windows 7/8/8.1/Vista/10 computer.

Part 3: How to Convert AAC to MP3 on Mac with iCoolsoft MP3 Audio Converter for Mac

Besides making use of Leawo Video Converter for Mac to convert AAC to MP3 on Mac computer, you could also turn to other media converters that could work on your Mac computer to complete the AAC to MP3 conversion. iCoolsoft MP3 Audio Converter for Mac is one of these media converters that Mac users could turn to for converting AAC file to MP3 format on Mac.

iCoolsoft MP3 Audio Converter for Mac is designed to convert video and audio files to MP3 files on Mac, such as convert WMA to MP3, AAC to MP3, M4A to MP3, MP4 to MP3, FLV to MP3, etc. You can use this MP3 Converter for Mac to easily get MP3 files from all resources and convert MP3 to other popular audio formats. MP3 editing and customizing functions are also available.

The below steps would show you how to convert AAC to MP3 on Mac with iCoolsoft MP3 Audio Converter for Mac.

Step 1: Download, install and then launch iCoolsoft MP3 Audio Converter on your Mac computer.

Step 2: Click the "Add File" button on the top-left corner to browse and import AAC audio files from your computer drive.

Step 3: Select audio tracks from the "Audio Track" button.

Step 4: Under the "Profile" box, choose MP3 as output format.

Step 5: Click the "Settings" button to adjust output MP3 audio parameters including audio codec, bit rate, sample rate and channel. If you're to convert multiple AAC audio files to MP3 file, click the "Apply to All" button.

Step 6: Set an output directory on the "Destination" box.

Step 7: Finally, click the "Convert" button to start converting AAC files to MP3 format on Mac.

After converting, you could then get all your AAC files in MP3 format on Mac computer. iCoolsoft MP3 Audio Converter for Mac could also help you convert audio files on Mac between other audio formats like FLAC, AAC, M4A, MP3, MP2, etc.

Part 4: Leawo Video Converter for Mac vs. iCoolsoft MP3 Audio Converter for Mac

Obviously, both Leawo Video Converter for Mac and iCoolsoft MP3 Audio Converter for Mac could help you convert AAC files to MP3 format on Mac in batch, without quality loss. However, these 2 Mac audio converters are quite different from each other. The below table would show you where the differences lie.

	Leawo Video Converter for Mac	iCoolsoft Audio Converter for Mac
Convert audio files on Mac	Yes	Yes
Convert video files on Mac	Yes	No
Adjust output audio parameters	Yes	Yes
Batch audio conversion	Yes	Yes
Convert photos to video	Yes	No
Edit videos (trim, crop, adjust effect, add watermark)	Yes	No
Turn 2D videos to 3D	Yes	No
Merge files into one	Yes	No
Supported OS	Mac OS X 10.7/10.8/10.9 /10.10/10.11/10.12/10.13/10.14	Mac OS X v10.4 - 10.6, Snow Leopard supported
Cost	$29.95 per year	$21

Obviously, iCoolsoft Audio Converter for Mac is an exclusive audio converter designed for Mac users, while Leawo Video Converter for Mac is a comprehensive media converter that includes Mac video converter, Mac audio converter and Mac photo to video converter. Leawo Video Converter for Mac provides more practical features for you.