HEIC is the photo format iPhones and iPads use by default. Technically it is a HEIF file (High Efficiency Image File Format, a standard published by the MPEG group in 2015) whose images are compressed with HEVC, also known as H.265, the video codec used for 4K video. Apple adopted it in iOS 11 in 2017. Many Android phones and some cameras can save HEIF too.
Why Apple uses HEIC
A HEIC photo is roughly half the size of a JPG of the same visual quality, so the same phone storage holds about twice as many photos. HEIC also stores 10-bit colour for HDR photos, and it is a container: one file can hold the photo, a thumbnail, a depth map for portrait mode editing, and burst sequences.
Why HEIC files are hard to open
- Browsers. Only Safari displays HEIC. Chrome, Edge and Firefox don’t.
- Windows. Windows needs the HEIF Image Extensions from the Microsoft Store, and in some versions also an HEVC codec, which may cost a small fee.
- Websites and forms. Many upload forms, shops and government sites only accept JPG or PNG.
- Licensing. HEVC is covered by patents with licence fees, which has slowed adoption in free software and browsers.
When you share photos from an iPhone by Mail or through many apps, iOS often converts them to JPG automatically. Copying them to a computer over a USB cable can do the same if Settings, then Photos, then Transfer to Mac or PC is set to Automatic. Choosing Keep Originals there, or downloading from some cloud services, gives you HEIC files.
Stopping your iPhone from saving HEIC
Go to Settings, then Camera, then Formats, and choose Most Compatible. The camera will save JPG from then on, at the cost of larger files. Photos you already took stay HEIC.
Common HEIC conversions
Convert HEIC to JPG to share, upload or open photos on Windows and Android, which is the most common need. Convert HEIC to PNG when you want a lossless copy for editing or design work.