What is MP4?
MP4 is the container video actually travels in - what phones record, what messaging apps accept, what every player since the iPod era opens. It usually carries H.264 video, and its one structural quirk matters to converters: the index of every frame lives in a table that has to be exactly right, or nothing plays.
What is AAC?
AAC is MP3's designated successor and the audio in most video: YouTube, streaming services, broadcast and virtually every MP4. At a given bitrate it beats MP3 audibly, particularly below 128 kbps, and every phone and browser decodes it.