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How to connect iPhone mic to iMovie?

  1. Iphone11 mic is connected via cable to MacBook Pro. It's activated in Microphone App on iPhone, enabled in MIDI setup, chosen in Sound (System Preferences) and works perfectly well in Voice Memos and Garage Band. It doesn't in iMovie - not present on Voiceover Recording preferences list. Only internal MacBook mic is on the list. I downloaded a fresh copy of iMovie but it didn't help. Obviously iMovie has access to the mic set in Privacy System Preferences - Microphone. I tried to turn it off and on again, no joy, mic still not on iMovie list.


Would you please help with some suggestions? Thank you :)

Posted on Mar 18, 2022 6:59 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 18, 2022 9:23 AM

You seem to have done all the correct procedures to connect an external mic to iMovie.


To cover the bases, read my post in the thread linked below where I describe what I did successfully to connect my iPhone external mic--although the situation was a bit different than yours.


iPhone as an external camera? - Apple Community


Since the mic is recognized everywhere but in iMovie, possibly there is a corrupt iMovie preference causing the issue. Try deleting/resetting preferences to see if that triggers recognition of the mic. To delete preferences open iMovie while holding down the Option and Command keys and select to delete preferences in the box that appears. iMovie will open in a new library. Reopen your old library to get back to your projects.  Deleting preferences is a safe procedure that will not cause data loss or disruption to your project.


If the iPhone mic still is not recognized by iMovie, try this procedure:


Resetting

the System Management Controller


Try resetting the System Management

Controller (but no longer available for the new M1 computers):


How to reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support


As a workaround you can dictate your audio in the Voice Memos app and then drag the audio file thus created into iMovie.


-- Rich




3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 18, 2022 9:23 AM in response to HansKloss

You seem to have done all the correct procedures to connect an external mic to iMovie.


To cover the bases, read my post in the thread linked below where I describe what I did successfully to connect my iPhone external mic--although the situation was a bit different than yours.


iPhone as an external camera? - Apple Community


Since the mic is recognized everywhere but in iMovie, possibly there is a corrupt iMovie preference causing the issue. Try deleting/resetting preferences to see if that triggers recognition of the mic. To delete preferences open iMovie while holding down the Option and Command keys and select to delete preferences in the box that appears. iMovie will open in a new library. Reopen your old library to get back to your projects.  Deleting preferences is a safe procedure that will not cause data loss or disruption to your project.


If the iPhone mic still is not recognized by iMovie, try this procedure:


Resetting

the System Management Controller


Try resetting the System Management

Controller (but no longer available for the new M1 computers):


How to reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support


As a workaround you can dictate your audio in the Voice Memos app and then drag the audio file thus created into iMovie.


-- Rich




Mar 29, 2022 8:40 AM in response to HansKloss

Hmmmmm. Possibly it is a bug in iMovie 10.3.1 that causes it not to recognize the iPhone mic. I am not able to run iMovie 10.3.1 on my older Mac so regrettably I can't test with my iPhone. Fortunately it does connect with other app on your Mac.


If you need to do an iMovie voiceover, you can use the Voice Memos app on your Mac (in the Applications folder) to make the recording and then drag the recording from the Voice Memos app sidebar onto your desktop and then into iMovie.


-- Rich

How to connect iPhone mic to iMovie?

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