HEIC vs JPEG
Half the file size at the same quality, against thirty years of universal support. Here is how the two formats actually compare, and when each one wins.
The honest summary: HEIC is the better format and JPEG is the more useful one. That tension is the whole comparison, and which side wins depends entirely on where the file is going.
If you are not sure what HEIC is to begin with, start with what HEIC files are — this page assumes you know.
Side by side
| HEIC | JPEG | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical size, 12 MP photo | ~2 MB | ~4 MB |
| Colour depth | 16-bit | 8-bit |
| Transparency | Yes | No |
| Multiple images per file | Yes | No |
| Opens everywhere | No | Yes |
| Released | 2015 | 1992 |
Where HEIC genuinely wins
Storage. Roughly half the size at equivalent visual quality. On a phone holding several thousand photos, that is tens of gigabytes.
Colour. 16-bit depth means 65,536 levels per channel against JPEG’s 256. You will not see it in a snapshot. You will see it in a sunset, where JPEG produces visible bands across the sky and HEIC does not.
Editing headroom. More colour information survives each edit. A JPEG degrades a little every time it is saved; the format re-compresses from the already-compressed version. HEIC degrades more slowly, and Apple’s implementation stores edits non-destructively so the original is always recoverable.
Transparency. JPEG simply cannot do it. If you need a transparent background you have always had to reach for PNG.
Where JPEG wins, decisively
Everything opens it. Every browser, every operating system, every photo frame, every print kiosk, every content management system, every ten-year-old laptop. There is no format on earth with better support, and there will not be one for a long time.
That single property outweighs every technical advantage above in any situation where you do not control the receiving end. A better file that the recipient cannot open is a worse file.
So which do you pick?
Keep HEIC for photos that live on your phone and in your own backups. That is most photos, and it is where the storage saving actually accrues.
Convert to JPEG at the point of sending — uploading to a website, emailing to someone on Windows, submitting to a form, printing at a shop. Convert the copy you send, not the original you keep.
That is the rule that gets you both benefits, and it is why the format switch buried in your camera settings is usually the wrong lever to pull. The problem is rarely “my phone uses HEIC”. It is “this one destination cannot read HEIC” — and that is a per-file problem with a per-file answer.
One thing to check before converting
Converting flattens the file. Live Photos lose their motion, burst shots keep only the primary frame, and Portrait mode depth data is discarded. None of this is announced by most converters — the file simply comes back smaller and stiller.
If the photo is a Live Photo you care about, convert a copy.