HEIC (also called HEIF) became the default iPhone photo format with iOS 11 in 2017. The compression is roughly twice as efficient as JPG — a 4 MB JPG becomes a 2 MB HEIC at the same visual quality. iPhones that take HEIC photos store roughly half the bytes for the same image library.
The catch is compatibility. HEIC uses HEVC video compression, which is heavily patented. Most platforms outside the Apple ecosystem need licensed decoders to render HEIC. The practical effect: HEIC photos shared from an iPhone to a non-Apple recipient often appear as 'can't open this file' or get silently converted by the sharing platform.
For most people the answer is conversion. iPhone Photos can be set to share photos as JPG automatically (Settings → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC → Automatic). For one-off conversion, the HEIC to JPG tool linked below handles it entirely in the browser with no upload. For deep Apple-ecosystem users, HEIC is the better format — keep it.
Spec comparison
| Property | HEIC | JPG |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy | Lossy |
| Graphic type | Raster | Raster |
| Transparency | Yes | No |
| Animation | Yes | No |
| HDR | Yes | No |
| Embeds EXIF | Yes | Yes |
| Browser coverage | 5% | 100% |
| Introduced | 2015 | 1992 |
File size comparison
Same 12 MP iPhone photo (4032×3024)
HEIC
HEIC: ~1.8 MB
JPG
JPG at q90: ~3.5 MB
HEIC is about half the size of JPG at equivalent quality. For an iPhone photo library, this compounds — keeping 5,000 photos as HEIC takes ~9 GB; the same library as JPG takes ~18 GB.
Quality comparison
At normal viewing sizes, HEIC and JPG at quality 90 are visually identical. HEIC handles HDR and wide colour gamuts (P3) more faithfully than JPG — but on a standard sRGB display rendering at 100% you won't see the difference.
When each one wins
Use HEIC if…
- Storing iPhone photos in iCloud or local Mac libraries
- Sharing within the Apple ecosystem (iMessage to other iPhones, AirDrop to Macs)
- Capturing HDR or wide-gamut photos for editing in Photos / Affinity / Adobe
- Backing up the iPhone library to a NAS that supports HEIC
Use JPG if…
- Sharing photos with non-iPhone users (Android, Windows, Linux)
- Uploading photos to websites or social platforms that don't accept HEIC
- Emailing photos to people whose email clients can't render HEIC
- Editing in tools that lack native HEIC support
Recommendation
If you mostly share photos within the Apple ecosystem, keep your iPhone on HEIC — you'll halve your storage with no visible quality loss. If you regularly share with non-Apple recipients, either switch the iPhone to 'Most Compatible' (Settings → Camera → Formats) to take JPG natively, or convert HEIC to JPG before sharing using the tool linked below. The conversion runs in your browser with no upload.
Frequently asked questions
- Why can't Windows open my HEIC files?
- HEIC uses patented HEVC compression. Windows needs a paid Microsoft Store extension (HEVC Video Extensions, £0.99) to render HEIC files. Many users find it simpler to convert HEIC to JPG instead.
- Should I switch my iPhone to JPG?
- If you mostly share photos with non-iPhone recipients, yes — Settings → Camera → Formats → 'Most Compatible'. You'll trade roughly 2× the storage for universal compatibility.
- Will HEIC keep my GPS / camera metadata?
- Yes — HEIC carries EXIF metadata including GPS, camera make/model, lens, and capture date, exactly like JPG. If you don't want this data shared, strip metadata before publishing.
- Does converting HEIC to JPG lose quality?
- Technically yes — any re-encoding step is lossy. At quality 90, the difference is invisible at any normal viewing size. The convenience of universal compatibility almost always outweighs the imperceptible quality loss.
- Are HEIC and HEIF the same?
- Effectively yes. HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format) is the container spec. HEIC is the most common variant of HEIF — specifically, HEIF using HEVC compression. The file extensions .heic and .heif are interchangeable in practice.