diff a/build_files/cmake/platform/platform_apple.cmake b/build_files/cmake/platform/platform_apple.cmake
--- a/build_files/cmake/platform/platform_apple.cmake
+++ b/build_files/cmake/platform/platform_apple.cmake
@@ -80,7 +80,6 @@ else()
   message(STATUS "Using pre-compiled LIBDIR: ${LIBDIR}")
 endif()
 if(NOT EXISTS "${LIBDIR}/")
-  message(FATAL_ERROR "Mac OSX requires pre-compiled libs at: '${LIBDIR}'")
 endif()
 
 # -------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -112,10 +111,6 @@ if(WITH_CODEC_SNDFILE)
   find_library(_sndfile_VORBIS_LIBRARY NAMES vorbis HINTS ${LIBDIR}/ffmpeg/lib)
   find_library(_sndfile_VORBISENC_LIBRARY NAMES vorbisenc HINTS ${LIBDIR}/ffmpeg/lib)
   list(APPEND LIBSNDFILE_LIBRARIES
-    ${_sndfile_FLAC_LIBRARY}
-    ${_sndfile_OGG_LIBRARY}
-    ${_sndfile_VORBIS_LIBRARY}
-    ${_sndfile_VORBISENC_LIBRARY}
   )
 
   print_found_status("SndFile libraries" "${LIBSNDFILE_LIBRARIES}")
@@ -132,7 +127,7 @@ if(WITH_PYTHON)
     # normally cached but not since we include them with blender
     set(PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR "${LIBDIR}/python/include/python${PYTHON_VERSION}m")
     set(PYTHON_EXECUTABLE "${LIBDIR}/python/bin/python${PYTHON_VERSION}m")
-    set(PYTHON_LIBRARY ${LIBDIR}/python/lib/libpython${PYTHON_VERSION}m.a)
+    set(PYTHON_LIBRARY "${LIBDIR}/python/lib/libpython${PYTHON_VERSION}m.dylib")
     set(PYTHON_LIBPATH "${LIBDIR}/python/lib/python${PYTHON_VERSION}")
     # set(PYTHON_LINKFLAGS "-u _PyMac_Error")  # won't  build with this enabled
   else()
@@ -173,9 +168,7 @@ endif()
 if(WITH_CODEC_FFMPEG)
   set(FFMPEG_FIND_COMPONENTS
     avcodec avdevice avformat avutil
-    mp3lame ogg opus swresample swscale
-    theora theoradec theoraenc vorbis vorbisenc
-    vorbisfile vpx x264 xvidcore)
+    swresample swscale)
   find_package(FFmpeg)
 endif()
 
@@ -266,7 +259,6 @@ if(WITH_BOOST)
 endif()
 
 if(WITH_INTERNATIONAL OR WITH_CODEC_FFMPEG)
-  set(PLATFORM_LINKFLAGS "${PLATFORM_LINKFLAGS} -liconv") # boost_locale and ffmpeg needs it !
 endif()
 
 if(WITH_OPENIMAGEIO)
@@ -439,7 +431,7 @@ else()
   set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE "-O2 -mdynamic-no-pic")
 endif()
 
-if(${XCODE_VERSION} VERSION_EQUAL 5 OR ${XCODE_VERSION} VERSION_GREATER 5)
+if(FALSE)
   # Xcode 5 is always using CLANG, which has too low template depth of 128 for libmv
   set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -ftemplate-depth=1024")
 endif()