HEIC vs JPG: What's the Difference and How to Convert iPhone Photos

If you've ever emailed a photo from your iPhone and the recipient couldn't open it, you've met HEIC. Here's what it is, how it compares to JPG, and how to convert between them.

What is HEIC?

HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) is Apple's name for the HEIF image format. It compresses images using the HEVC (H.265) video codec. iPhones and iPads have saved photos as HEIC by default since iOS 11.

HEIC vs JPG at a glance

	HEIC	JPG
File size	~50% smaller	Baseline
Quality at the same size	Higher	Lower
Transparency	Yes	No
16-bit colour / HDR	Yes	No (8-bit)
Compatibility	Apple devices, recent Windows/Android	Universal

In short: HEIC is technically better, but JPG opens everywhere.

When should you convert HEIC to JPG?

• When uploading to websites or forms that only accept JPG/PNG
• When sharing with Windows or older Android users
• When editing in software that doesn't support HEIC
• When printing at photo kiosks

How to convert HEIC to JPG for free

1. Open the HEIC to JPG converter.
2. Drop in one or more .heic files.
3. Choose the JPG quality (90% is visually lossless for most photos).
4. Download each image, or all of them as a ZIP.

The conversion happens in your browser, so your photos are never uploaded.

Stop your iPhone from saving HEIC

Go to Settings → Camera → Formats and choose Most Compatible. New photos will then be saved as JPG. Keep in mind they'll take up roughly twice the storage.

Make photos even smaller

For the web, convert JPG to WebP or run it through the Image Compressor. You'll often cut the size by 50–80% with no visible difference.