Every iPhone since 2017 shoots HEIC by default. That's over a billion devices generating a format that most of the internet can't display. If you've ever emailed a photo from your iPhone and the recipient couldn't open it, or tried to upload an iPhone photo to a website that rejected it — HEIC is why.
HEIC is technically superior to JPEG in nearly every measurable dimension. It produces files half the size at the same quality, supports 10-bit color, stores Live Photos and depth maps, and can hold multiple images in one file. The catch is compatibility: HEVC (the compression codec) is patent-encumbered, and the rest of the tech industry chose royalty-free alternatives instead.
This guide explains how HEIC works, why Apple adopted it, what it stores beyond pixel data, and how to convert it for the 90% of situations where you need something more universal. Convert HEIC to JPG or HEIC to PNG right away if that's all you need.
HEIC vs HEIF: What's the Difference?
HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format) is the container format — defined by MPEG as ISO/IEC 23008-12. It specifies how to store images, sequences, metadata, and thumbnails in a structured file. HEIF itself doesn't define a compression codec. It's format-agnostic.
HEIC is HEIF with HEVC (H.265) compression. When Apple says "HEIC," they mean HEIF container + HEVC codec. The .heic file extension indicates HEVC-compressed content specifically.
Technically, HEIF can also contain AV1 (making AVIF), H.264, or JPEG. But in practice, .heic files are HEVC. The distinction matters because AVIF is also a HEIF-based format — it uses the same container structure with a different codec inside.
How HEVC Compression Works for Photos
HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding / H.265) was designed for video, where it excels at temporal compression between frames. For still images, HEIC uses only the intra-frame coding tools — the same approach AVIF takes with AV1.
Coding Tree Units and Prediction
HEVC divides images into Coding Tree Units (CTUs) up to 64x64 pixels, recursively partitioned into smaller Coding Units (CUs) down to 8x8. Each CU uses one of 35 intra-prediction modes — 33 directional angles plus DC (flat) and planar (smooth gradient). The predicted block is subtracted from the actual pixels, and only the residual is transformed and quantized.
This is similar to AV1/AVIF but with fewer prediction angles (35 vs 56) and smaller maximum block size (64x64 vs 128x128). HEVC was state-of-the-art when Apple adopted it in 2017; AV1 surpassed it by 2020.
File Size: HEIC vs JPEG
Apple's published data shows HEIC files are approximately 50% smaller than JPEG at equivalent visual quality. In practice, a typical 12MP iPhone photo:
- JPEG: 3-5 MB
- HEIC: 1.5-2.5 MB
- WebP (equivalent quality): 2-3 MB
- AVIF (equivalent quality): 1.2-2 MB
HEIC is roughly comparable to AVIF in compression efficiency and significantly better than WebP. The 50% savings over JPEG means an iPhone with HEIC enabled stores roughly twice as many photos in the same storage space — which was Apple's primary motivation for adopting it.
10-Bit Color and HDR
HEIC supports 10-bit color depth — 1,024 tonal values per channel compared to JPEG's 256. iPhone photos since iPhone 12 (with ProRAW and Photographic Styles) and iPhone 14 Pro (with Apple ProRes) capture 10-bit data natively. HEIC preserves this information; converting to JPEG truncates it to 8-bit, permanently losing tonal detail in gradients and shadows.
On displays that support wide color (P3 or wider), HEIC photos show visibly richer colors — particularly deep reds, vivid greens, and saturated oranges that sRGB JPEG can't represent. When viewing these photos on an sRGB display, the difference is less visible, but the data is preserved for when it matters.
HDR photos (captured with Smart HDR or Deep Fusion) store gain map data in the HEIC container, allowing the same file to render differently on HDR and SDR displays. This dual-display capability is something JPEG fundamentally cannot support.
What HEIC Stores Beyond Pixels
The HEIF container format is far more capable than a simple image wrapper. Apple exploits this extensively.
Live Photos
A Live Photo is a still image + a short video clip (typically 1.5 seconds before and after the shutter). In HEIC, both the still frame and the video data are stored in a single file. The still frame is the primary image item; the video is stored as an auxiliary item with timing metadata. File size for a Live Photo is typically 3-7 MB — the still frame is 1.5-2.5 MB, and the video clip adds 1.5-4.5 MB depending on motion complexity.
When you convert a Live Photo HEIC to JPEG, you lose the video component entirely. You get just the keyframe as a static image. There's no way to preserve the Live Photo experience in JPEG format.
Depth Maps
Portrait mode photos store a depth map as an auxiliary image within the HEIC file. This grayscale depth map records the estimated distance of each pixel from the camera, enabling the adjustable background blur (bokeh) effect. The depth map is typically lower resolution than the main image (about 768x576 for a 12MP photo) and stored as a separate HEVC-compressed image item.
The depth data persists — you can adjust the blur amount after capture in Apple Photos because the depth map is still there. Converting to JPEG discards the depth map permanently.
Burst Photography and Sequences
HEIF can store multiple images in a single file. Apple uses this for burst mode photography — instead of creating dozens of separate files, a burst sequence can be stored as a multi-image HEIC file. Each image in the sequence is independently compressed but shares container metadata (timestamp, camera settings, GPS).
This reduces filesystem overhead and makes burst sequences easier to manage as a single unit. The downside: extracting individual frames from a burst HEIC requires tools that understand the multi-image HEIF structure.
The Compatibility Problem
HEIC's adoption has been hampered by one fundamental issue: HEVC patent licensing.
Patents and Licensing
HEVC is covered by patents held by multiple licensing pools (MPEG-LA, HEVC Advance, Velos Media). The licensing terms are complex, and some patent holders demand per-device or per-use royalties. This is why Google, Mozilla, and most open-source projects refuse to support HEVC — and by extension, HEIC.
Apple pays HEVC licensing fees as part of its hardware business. Samsung does too. But web browsers (except Safari on Apple hardware) don't include HEVC decoders. This creates an absurd situation: a format produced by 1+ billion iPhones that no web browser can display.
Platform-by-Platform Support
Apple ecosystem: Full support on iOS, macOS, iPadOS. Native in Photos, Preview, Quick Look. Apple handles HEIC-to-JPEG conversion transparently when sharing via AirDrop, email, or Messages to non-Apple recipients.
Windows: Requires installing "HEVC Video Extensions" from the Microsoft Store (previously $0.99, now free via manufacturer OEM). Once installed, Photos, Paint, and File Explorer handle HEIC. Without the extension, .heic files show generic icons and can't be opened.
Android: Partial support since Android 9 (Pie). Most Android phones can view HEIC but shoot in JPEG by default. Samsung phones offer HEIC capture as an option. Google Photos handles HEIC viewing and conversion.
Web browsers: Zero support. No major browser can render HEIC natively. Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari-on-Windows all fail. This is the core reason HEIC requires conversion for any web use case.
Linux: libheif provides decoder/encoder. Available in GIMP 2.10+ with the right plugin. Not typically available by default.
Converting HEIC: Your Options
Since HEIC can't be used on the web and has limited cross-platform support, conversion is inevitable. Here's what to convert to and when:
HEIC to JPEG is the most common conversion. Use it for sharing photos via email, uploading to websites that don't accept HEIC, or sending to non-Apple users. Quality loss is minimal — the HEVC-compressed original has enough quality headroom that a JPG at quality 90-92 looks identical. Convert HEIC to JPG here.
HEIC to PNG is useful when you need lossless conversion — preserving every decoded pixel without re-compression artifacts. File sizes will be larger than the HEIC original (since PNG is lossless and HEIC is lossy). Use this for editing workflows where you need maximum quality. Convert HEIC to PNG here.
HEIC to WebP gives you a web-optimized file that's smaller than JPEG while preserving transparency if the HEIC has an alpha channel. Good for web use where browser support (97%+) is acceptable. Convert HEIC to WebP here.
HEIC to AVIF preserves the most quality — AVIF's compression efficiency is comparable to HEVC, so the transcoding loss is minimal. AVIF also preserves 10-bit color if your source HEIC is 10-bit. Convert HEIC to AVIF here.
iPhone Camera Format Settings
You can control whether your iPhone shoots HEIC or JPEG:
Settings → Camera → Formats:
- High Efficiency: Shoots HEIC (photos) and HEVC (video). Smaller files, more storage. This is the default.
- Most Compatible: Shoots JPEG (photos) and H.264 (video). Larger files, universal compatibility.
Automatic transfer setting: Under Settings → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC, you can choose "Automatic" (converts HEIC to JPEG when transferring to non-Apple devices) or "Keep Originals" (sends HEIC as-is).
The practical recommendation: keep High Efficiency for the storage savings, and use "Automatic" transfer. This gives you the best of both worlds — small files on your phone, compatible files when sharing. For professional work where you need JPEG originals, switch to Most Compatible before a shoot.
HEIC is a technically superior format trapped by patent politics. It compresses better than JPEG, stores richer data, and is produced by over a billion devices. But the HEVC licensing situation means the rest of the industry moved to royalty-free alternatives (WebP, AVIF), leaving HEIC as an Apple-ecosystem format that requires conversion for cross-platform use.
For the foreseeable future, converting HEIC is a fact of life. ChangeThisFile handles it for free: HEIC to JPG, HEIC to PNG, HEIC to WebP, and HEIC to AVIF. The conversion runs in your browser — your photos never leave your device.