HEIC is genuinely better than JPEG. It is also the reason your photos will not upload, which is a different kind of better.
What HEIC actually is
HEIC is a container holding an image encoded with HEVC, the same compression family used for 4K video. That is where the efficiency comes from — it is a far more modern codec than JPEG, which was standardised in 1992.
The practical result is roughly half the file size at visually identical quality, plus a few things JPEG cannot do at all: transparency, 16-bit colour depth, image sequences such as Live Photos, and depth maps for portrait-mode blur.
None of which helps when the upload form rejects it. HEVC carries patent licensing that has kept it out of a lot of software, which is why support is so uneven eight years after Apple adopted it.
Where HEIC works and where it does not
| Where | Opens HEIC? |
|---|---|
| iPhone, iPad, modern macOS | Yes, natively |
| Windows 10 and 11 | Only with the HEIF extension installed |
| Android 10 and later | Mostly yes |
| Chrome, Firefox, Safari | Safari yes; the others largely no |
| Most upload forms | Frequently rejected |
| Office, Google Docs, older design tools | Usually not |
| Print shops | Assume not |
The rule of thumb: HEIC is fine while a photo stays inside Apple's world, and a liability the moment it leaves. Anything going to a form, a printer, a client or a Windows colleague should be JPEG.
Converting without losing more than you must
HEIC to JPG is a transcode between two lossy formats, which means the image is decoded and then re-encoded. Some quality is lost, and how much depends entirely on the quality setting you pick.
- Convert at quality 0.9 or higher if the photo matters. The file will be larger than the HEIC — often twice the size — because JPEG is simply less efficient. That is the trade.
- Convert a copy, never the original. HEIC keeps depth maps and Live Photo frames that JPEG cannot hold, and those are gone for good.
- Do not convert, then compress, then resize as three separate saves. Each one re-encodes. Do it in one pass at the settings you actually want.
- Check the orientation afterwards. iPhone photos carry an EXIF rotation flag, and some converters drop it, which is why a converted photo occasionally arrives sideways.
The Image Converter does the decode and re-encode on your device, so a camera roll full of personal photographs is not uploaded anywhere to be transcoded.
Stopping your iPhone producing HEIC
If you convert HEIC files regularly, the better fix is upstream. iPhone can shoot JPEG directly.
Open Settings → Camera → Formats and choose Most Compatible instead of High Efficiency. New photos are then JPEG and everything downstream stops complaining. Existing HEIC files stay as they are.
The cost is real: photos take about twice the storage, and you lose HEIC-only features. On a 256 GB phone that rarely matters; on a 64 GB phone it might. There is also a middle path — leave the camera on High Efficiency and set Settings → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC to Automatic, which converts to JPEG on the way out while keeping the efficient originals on the device.
What about HEIF, HEVC and AVIF?
These get muddled constantly and the distinction is simple once stated.
HEIF is the container format. HEIC is a HEIF file whose contents were compressed with HEVC. So HEVC is the codec, HEIF is the box, HEIC is the common pairing of the two.
AVIF is a different pairing — the same container idea with the royalty-free AV1 codec instead. It compresses about as well as HEIC, has no patent problem, and browser support is now broad. It is the better long-term choice for the web, though almost no camera produces it.
For a website, the practical ranking today is WebP for safety, AVIF where you can serve a fallback, and JPEG for anything a visitor will download. The full comparison is in PNG vs JPG vs WebP.
Frequently asked questions
Why will my iPhone photos not upload?
They are almost certainly HEIC, which many upload forms reject outright. Convert to JPG before uploading, or set Camera to "Most Compatible" in iPhone settings so new photos are JPEG from the start.
Does converting HEIC to JPG lose quality?
Yes — it decodes one lossy format and re-encodes into another. At quality 0.9 or above the loss is not visible, but it is real, so convert a copy and keep the HEIC original. You also lose depth maps and Live Photo frames, which JPEG cannot store.
Why is the JPG bigger than the HEIC?
Because JPEG is a much older and less efficient codec. HEIC typically stores the same quality in about half the space, so a faithful conversion roughly doubles the file size. If that matters, compress the JPG afterwards.
How do I open HEIC on Windows?
Windows 10 and 11 need the HEIF Image Extensions from the Microsoft Store, and depending on version the HEVC Video Extensions too. If you would rather not install anything, converting to JPG is faster and works everywhere.
Should I use HEIC or JPG?
HEIC while the photo stays on Apple devices, where the storage saving is free. JPG for anything leaving that world — uploads, printing, Windows colleagues, clients. The compatibility cost outweighs the size benefit the moment a file has to travel.
Is AVIF better than HEIC?
For the web, yes. It compresses about as well, is royalty-free, and browsers support it broadly. HEIC has patent licensing that has kept it out of a lot of software. Cameras produce HEIC, though, so AVIF is a delivery format rather than a capture one.