HEIC vs JPG: Which Photo Format Should You Use?

If you only need the short answer: HEIC is the better format for storing photos, and JPG is the better format for sharing them. HEIC files are roughly half the size of JPGs at comparable visual quality and can carry richer data, while JPG is understood by practically every device, website, printer and app made in the last thirty years.

This guide explains where those differences come from, when each one actually matters, and how to decide which format to use for a specific job.

What are HEIC and JPG, exactly?

JPG (or JPEG) is a 1992 image standard; HEIC is Apple’s name for photos stored in the HEIF container using HEVC compression. Both are “lossy” formats: they throw away detail the human eye is unlikely to notice in exchange for much smaller files.

• JPG was created by the Joint Photographic Experts Group. Its compression is built on the discrete cosine transform (DCT), which splits an image into 8×8 pixel blocks and simplifies each block.
• HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format) was standardized by MPEG in 2015. It is a container, a bit like a ZIP folder designed for images, that can hold one or many pictures plus metadata.
• HEIC is the specific flavor of HEIF that stores images compressed with HEVC (H.265), the same codec used for 4K video. Apple made it the default iPhone camera format with iOS 11 in 2017.

	HEIC	JPG
Introduced	2015 (HEIF), iPhone default since 2017	1992
Compression	HEVC / H.265 intra-frame coding	DCT on 8×8 blocks
Typical size, 12 MP photo	about 1–2.5 MB	about 2.5–5 MB
Bit depth	Up to 16-bit per channel (container)	8-bit per channel
Transparency	Supported	Not supported
Multiple images per file	Yes (bursts, depth maps, gain maps)	No
Opens natively on	Apple devices, recent Android, Windows with extensions	Everything

Why are HEIC files so much smaller?

HEVC simply predicts image content better than JPG’s 1990s-era math, so it needs fewer bits to describe the same picture. Apple’s own figure is that HEIC takes up about half the space of an equivalent JPG, and real-world tests usually land between 40% and 60% savings.

Three technical reasons account for most of the gap:

1. Flexible block sizes. JPG always works in 8×8 blocks. HEVC can use blocks as large as 64×64 for smooth areas like sky or walls, and split down to 4×4 for fine detail like hair or text. Smooth areas cost almost nothing.
2. Intra prediction. HEVC guesses each block from its already-decoded neighbors (it offers 35 prediction modes) and only stores the difference between the guess and reality. JPG stores each block more or less independently.
3. Better entropy coding and filtering. HEVC uses CABAC compression for the final data and a deblocking filter that hides block edges. That filter is the reason a heavily compressed HEIC looks soft rather than “blocky”.

The practical consequence: on a 128 GB iPhone, switching from JPG to HEIC roughly doubles the number of photos you can keep before storage runs out.

Does HEIC look better than JPG?

At the same file size HEIC looks noticeably better; at normal camera quality settings most people cannot see any difference. The quality advantage shows up mainly in three situations:

• Strong compression. Push a JPG down to a small file and you will see 8×8 blocks and “ringing” around edges. A HEIC of the same size stays cleaner.
• Smooth gradients. A clear blue sky or a studio background can show visible steps (banding) in 8-bit JPG. HEIF can store higher bit depths: 8-bit gives 256 levels per color channel, 10-bit gives 1,024.
• HDR photos. Recent iPhones save extra brightness information (a “gain map”) inside the HEIC file so that compatible screens can show brighter highlights. A standard JPG has nowhere to put that information, so converted photos look like a normal SDR image.

If you are printing a photo, posting it on social media or attaching it to an email, a JPG exported at quality 85–90 will look the same as the HEIC original to almost everyone.

What can HEIC store that JPG cannot?

HEIC is a container, so a single file can hold several related images and data layers; a JPG holds exactly one flat picture. Things HEIF supports include:

• Depth maps from Portrait mode, which is why you can change the background blur after taking the shot.
• Gain maps for HDR display.
• Image sequences, such as bursts.
• Transparency (an alpha channel), useful for stickers and cut-outs.
• Non-destructive edits, such as rotation, stored as instructions instead of re-saving pixels.

One common misunderstanding: Live Photos are not one HEIC file. The iPhone stores a HEIC still image and a separate short MOV video that share an identifier. Converting the HEIC to JPG keeps the still and leaves the video behind.

Why doesn’t HEIC work everywhere?

The main obstacle is HEVC patent licensing, not technical difficulty. HEVC is covered by patents held by several licensing pools, so every company that ships an HEVC decoder may owe royalties. That cost and legal complexity is why support is patchy:

Platform	HEIC support
iPhone, iPad, Mac	Full, built in
Windows 10 / 11	Needs HEIF Image Extensions + an HEVC codec from the Microsoft Store
Android	Most phones from Android 9 onward can view HEIC; older apps may not
Chrome, Firefox, Edge	Cannot display HEIC images on web pages
Safari	Recent versions can display HEIC
Websites and forms	Many upload forms accept only JPG or PNG
Print kiosks and older software	Usually JPG only

JPG has no such barrier: its baseline technology is royalty-free, and every browser has supported it since the 1990s. That is the real reason JPG is still the “universal” format.

When should you keep HEIC, and when should you convert to JPG?

Keep HEIC as your archive; convert a copy to JPG whenever someone or something else has to open the file. A simple decision table:

Situation	Best choice	Why
Storing photos on your iPhone or in iCloud	HEIC	Half the storage, keeps depth and HDR data
Sending to friends on iPhone	Either	iOS handles HEIC natively
Emailing to a Windows user	JPG	Avoids “can’t open this file”
Uploading to a job portal, government form or school site	JPG	Many forms reject HEIC
Ordering prints or using a print kiosk	JPG	Kiosks rarely read HEIC
Editing in older software	JPG (high quality)	Guaranteed to open
Building a website	JPG, or WebP/AVIF	Browsers cannot render HEIC

Notice that the iPhone already does part of this for you. When you attach a photo to an email or upload it through Safari, iOS often converts it to JPG on the fly. The trouble starts when the original HEIC files leave the phone, for example when you copy them to a PC with a cable, download them from iCloud.com, or receive them in a ZIP.

How to convert HEIC to JPG without losing quality

Use a quality setting of 85–95 and you will not see a difference; the only data you genuinely lose are HEIC-only extras such as depth maps and HDR gain maps. A few practical tips:

• Quality 85 is a good default. Files are roughly the same size as, or slightly larger than, the HEIC original, and the result is visually identical.
• Quality 100 produces large files with no visible benefit for normal use. Choose it only when the JPG will be edited and re-saved many times.
• Decide about metadata first. EXIF data includes the date, camera settings and often the exact GPS location. Keep it for your own archive; strip it before posting photos publicly.
• Avoid converting twice. Each JPG re-save loses a little detail. Convert from the original HEIC, not from a previously converted JPG.

You can do the conversion with the tools already on your computer, which we cover step by step in How to Convert HEIC to JPG Without Uploading Your Photos. If you just want it done in a few seconds, the HEICJPG converter runs entirely inside your browser, so the photos never leave your device.

Summary

• HEIC is about twice as storage-efficient, handles gradients and HDR better and can hold depth maps and multiple images, but its HEVC licensing keeps it from working everywhere.
• JPG is older and less efficient, but universally compatible and royalty-free.
• The sensible workflow for most people is capture and store in HEIC, share and upload in JPG.

Curious why Apple made the switch in the first place? Read Why Does iPhone Save Photos as HEIC?