HEIF vs HEIC: What is the Difference?

HEIC is a specific type of HEIF file. HEIF (High Efficiency Image Format) is a container format that can use different codecs, while HEIC specifically means the image is encoded with HEVC (H.265). All HEIC files are HEIF files, but not all HEIF files are HEIC. When your iPhone takes a photo, it saves it as HEIC.

How They Relate

Think of HEIF as a box and the codec as what goes inside. A HEIF file encoded with HEVC gets the .heic extension. A HEIF file encoded with AV1 gets the .avif extension. Apple chose HEVC for iPhones because it was the best compression available when they adopted the format in 2017 (iOS 11). The naming is confusing, but in practice "HEIF" and "HEIC" refer to the same thing on Apple devices.

Why Apple Uses HEIC

HEIC files are roughly half the size of equivalent-quality JPEGs. A 12MP iPhone photo that would be 3-4MB as JPEG takes about 1.5-2MB as HEIC. HEIC also supports 10-bit color depth (vs JPEG's 8-bit), transparency, image sequences (Live Photos), and depth maps. These features make it strictly better than JPEG for phone photography, which is why Apple made it the default.

The Compatibility Problem

HEIC/HEIF uses HEVC compression, which is covered by patents. This means some software requires a license to decode it. Windows 10/11 can open HEIC files after installing the free HEVC codec from the Microsoft Store, but many web apps, email clients, and older software cannot handle HEIC at all. JPEG remains the universal format that works everywhere.

Converting HEIC to JPG

If you need your photos in a universally compatible format, our HEIC to JPG converter handles the conversion in your browser with no upload required. You can also set your iPhone to shoot in JPEG directly (Settings > Camera > Formats > Most Compatible), though you will lose the file size and color depth benefits.

For related reading, see HEIC vs JPG, HEIC vs PNG, AVIF vs WebP, and best image format for the web.