HEIC vs JPG: what’s the difference?
HEIC is the photo format iPhones use by default: it stores the same picture in roughly half the space of a JPG, plus extras like depth data and Live Photos. JPG opens everywhere. Keep HEIC on your iPhone to save space, and convert to JPG only when you send photos to a device or website that can’t read HEIC.
The short version
| HEIC | JPG | |
|---|---|---|
| File size at the same quality | about half | baseline |
| Opens on Windows | needs extensions from the Microsoft Store | always |
| Opens on Android | most recent phones | always |
| Opens in browsers | Safari 17 and later | every browser |
| Color depth | up to 10-bit | 8-bit |
| Extras | depth maps, Live Photos, image sequences | — |
| iPhone default | since iOS 11 | when Camera is set to Most Compatible |
Why iPhones use HEIC
HEIC is a photo stored with HEVC (H.265) compression — the same codec iPhones use for video. HEVC is much more efficient than the 1990s compression inside JPG, so the same photo needs roughly half the bytes. On a phone with thousands of photos, that’s many gigabytes.
The trade-off is compatibility. Apple devices, recent Android phones and current Safari read HEIC; Windows needs extra codecs, and Chrome, Firefox and Edge don’t display it at all.
When to keep HEIC
- On your iPhone, always. Switching the camera to JPG roughly doubles the size of every new photo.
- In iCloud Photos and on a Mac — everything there reads HEIC.
When to convert to JPG
- Sending photos to someone on Windows or an older Android phone.
- Uploading to a website or form that rejects
.heicfiles. - Printing services and older photo editors.
How to convert
On iPhone, without any app: your iPhone converts automatically when you share to most apps and when you copy to a computer with Settings → Apps → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC → Automatic. You can also open a photo in Files and use Quick Actions → Convert Image.
In the browser: our HEIC to JPG converter works in Safari, Chrome and Edge, on iPhone and computers, and never uploads your photos. Need lossless? Use HEIC to PNG.
On a Mac: open the photo in Preview → File → Export → Format: JPEG.
Does converting free up space?
No — it does the opposite. A JPG of the same photo is bigger. If your iPhone is full, the space is in videos and duplicate photos, not in the photo format.
