What is HEIC?
If you own an iPhone, your photos are stored as HEIC. Here's what that actually means, why Apple chose it, and when you need to convert.
HEIC in one sentence
HEIC is a modern photo format that stores roughly the same image quality as JPG in about half the file size. If you own an iPhone, almost every photo you have taken since 2017 is one.
HEIC, HEIF, HEVC: untangling the three names
Nearly all the confusion around this format comes from three similar acronyms that mean genuinely different things, so it is worth separating them once.
HEIF. High Efficiency Image File Format, is the container. It is an open ISO standard that describes how images, thumbnails, metadata and extras are packed into one file. A container specifies the box, not the compression.
HEVC. High Efficiency Video Coding, also called H.265, is the codec. It is a video compression standard, and compressing a single still frame with it is what makes the file small.
HEIC is the combination: a HEIF container holding an image compressed with HEVC. That is what an iPhone produces, and it is why the format is technically open yet practically restricted, the container is free, but the codec inside it is not.
This also explains the stray .heif files people occasionally see. HEIF can hold images compressed other ways, so a HEIF file is not automatically a HEIC one. In everyday use on Apple devices they are the same thing.
Why Apple switched
Storage, mainly. Half the file size means roughly twice as many photos in the same phone. Every iPhone since iOS 11 in 2017 has defaulted to it, which Apple labels 'High Efficiency' in the camera settings rather than by name.
But size is not the only reason, and the others explain why Apple did not simply use a smaller JPG. HEIC can hold things JPG structurally cannot, and Apple had features that needed them.
What is actually inside a HEIC file
A JPG holds one image and some metadata. A HEIC is closer to a small archive, and this is where the format earns its keep.
Multiple images in one file. A Live Photo pairs a HEIC still with a short video; burst sequences can live together in a single container.
Depth maps. Portrait mode stores a per-pixel map of how far away things are, alongside the photo. That is how your phone re-computes background blur after the shot was taken, the depth information is still in the file.
More than 8 bits per colour channel. JPG is capped at 8 bits, which is why wide, smooth gradients like a clear sky sometimes show faint banding. HEIC carries 10-bit and beyond, so those gradients stay smooth, and it is the foundation for HDR photos.
Transparency. HEIC supports an alpha channel; JPG has never had one.
Non-destructive edits. Rotating or cropping can be recorded as an instruction rather than a re-encode, so the original pixels are not thrown away and re-compressed each time.
Tiling. Very large images can be split into tiles and decoded in pieces rather than all at once.
The compatibility problem is a licensing problem
HEIC's weakness is not technical. Measured on compression, it beats JPG comfortably. Its weakness is that HEVC is covered by a large pool of patents held by many separate companies, and anyone shipping a decoder owes royalties.
Apple can absorb that, because it sells the hardware. Microsoft cannot do the same on machines it does not sell, so Windows has never included an HEVC image decoder by default. Browser makers landed in the same place: Chrome, Firefox and Edge all decline to decode HEIC, which is why an iPhone photo dragged into a browser on a PC simply fails.
So the format that halves your storage is also the format a large share of the software world will not open, and that gap has nothing to do with how good the compression is.
HEIC vs JPG vs WebP vs AVIF
JPG, from 1992, is the universal fallback. Lossy, 8-bit, no transparency, and readable by absolutely everything. Its compatibility is unmatched and always will be.
HEIC is roughly half the size of JPG at comparable quality, with depth maps, HDR, transparency and multi-image support. Excellent on Apple hardware, awkward everywhere else.
WebP, from Google, is around 25-35% smaller than JPG with transparency and animation, and every current browser reads it. A pragmatic middle ground, which is why so much of the web now serves it.
AVIF is the interesting one, because it is the same idea as HEIC with the licensing problem removed. It uses a container derived from HEIF, but compresses with AV1, which is royalty-free by design. That single difference is why browsers adopted AVIF while refusing HEIC, and why AVIF, not HEIC, is becoming the high-efficiency format of the open web.
Practical rule: JPG to send to other people, HEIC for storage on Apple devices, WebP or AVIF for publishing on the web.
What opens HEIC today
Apple devices open it everywhere, iOS and iPadOS since iOS 11, macOS since High Sierra, including Preview, Photos, Finder and Quick Look. Safari displays it on both.
Android has read HEIF since Android 10, so most modern phones show these files without complaint.
Windows needs two Microsoft Store add-ons together, HEIF Image Extensions (free) and HEVC Video Extensions (paid), to display them, and that pair only adds viewing, not conversion.
Desktop browsers other than Safari do not decode it at all. Adobe applications and most current professional editors do; older versions and a great deal of everyday software do not.
When something refuses the file, converting to JPG resolves it in every case, because nothing on that list has trouble with JPG.
Should you turn HEIC off?
Only if the friction is constant. Switching Settings → Camera → Formats to 'Most Compatible' makes new photos JPG, at roughly double the file size and without depth maps or HDR.
For most people the better trade is to leave the phone on High Efficiency and convert the handful of photos that actually need to be JPG. You keep the storage saving and the extra image data, and you spend a few seconds on the ones you are sending somewhere fussy.
One thing worth knowing: changing that setting only affects photos taken afterwards. Your existing library stays HEIC, so if the problem is photos you already have, the setting will not help and converting is the only route.
Quick questions
Is HEIC better than JPG?
For file size and capability, yes, about half the size, plus depth maps, HDR and transparency. For compatibility, no. JPG works everywhere.
Can Android open HEIC?
Yes, Android 10 and later read HEIF files in the gallery. Older versions need a converter.
Should I switch my iPhone off HEIC?
Only if you hit compatibility problems constantly. Otherwise keep the storage saving and convert the few photos that need to be JPG.
Are HEIC and HEIF the same?
HEIF is the container; HEIC is a HEIF file whose image is compressed with HEVC. On Apple devices, treat them as the same thing.
Why won't Chrome open a HEIC file?
HEVC compression is patent-encumbered, so Chrome, Firefox and Edge do not ship a decoder. Safari does, because macOS and iOS already license one.
Does converting HEIC to JPG lose the depth map or HDR?
Yes. JPG cannot store depth data and is limited to 8 bits per channel. Keep the original HEIC if you want to re-edit Portrait blur later.
Is AVIF the same thing as HEIC?
They share a container lineage, but AVIF compresses with royalty-free AV1 instead of HEVC. That is why browsers support AVIF and not HEIC.
Why is my HEIC file bigger than expected?
Live Photos and burst sequences store several images plus video in one container, so the file holds far more than the single photo you see.
Converters
The converter on this page handles every conversion this guide talks about.