iPhone Photo Format Guide

What is HEIC?

HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) is the photo format Apple uses since iOS 11. It uses HEIF encoding, 50% smaller than JPG with the same quality. The downside is poor compatibility.

Format Comparison

• HEIC: small size, high quality, poor compatibility
• JPG: best compatibility, larger files, ideal for sharing
• PNG: lossless compression, largest files, ideal for design

When Do You Need to Convert?

Uploading to social media, sending to Android users, editing on Windows, printing — all need JPG format. Use a HEIC to JPG converter for batch processing.

iPhone Settings

Settings → Camera → Formats → Choose "Most Compatible" (JPG) or "High Efficiency" (HEIC). Choose JPG if you share photos frequently.

FAQ

Why does iPhone default to HEIC?

Files are half the size of JPEG with comparable quality, saving storage.