Why Are iPhone Photos HEIC? Settings and Transfers

Your iPhone saves photos as HEIC because Settings > Camera > Formats is set to High Efficiency, the format Apple recommends because it takes less space. Whether a photo is still HEIC when it reaches someone else depends on two more things: how you send it, and whether Keep Originals is selected for transfers to a computer. Below is what each setting does, what happens on each transfer route, and how 48 MP and ProRAW fit in. Apple’s pages were checked on 31 October 2026.

Why Apple chose HEIC

Apple added HEIF photo capture in iOS 11, and iPhone 7 and later can use it. Apple says HEIF offers “better compression than JPEG”, so photos “use less storage space on your devices and iCloud Photos, while preserving the same visual quality.” On an iPhone, these HEIF photos have the .heic extension.

The cost is compatibility: some Windows PCs, websites and older apps do not open HEIC. For measured file sizes and a format-by-format comparison, see HEIC vs JPG.

The settings that decide the format

Setting	Where	What it controls
High Efficiency / Most Compatible	Settings > Camera > Formats	New photos are HEIF or JPEG. Photos you already took do not change
Resolution Control or ProRAW & Resolution Control (depends on model)	Settings > Camera > Formats	Lets you take 48 MP photos and, on Pro models, ProRAW
Photo Mode: 12 MP or 24 MP	Settings > Camera > Formats	The default resolution of the Main camera, on iPhone 15 and later
Keep Originals	Settings > Apps > Photos, scroll down and tap it	Whether photos imported over USB may be converted to JPEG

Two things to know about Most Compatible. Apple says it is available only on iPhones that can capture HEIF, and that after you choose it, “all new photos and videos will now use JPEG or H.264 format.” To go back, choose High Efficiency.

48 MP, HEIF Max and ProRAW

Higher resolutions and RAW change the file you get:

Format	Resolution	File	Models in Apple’s article
Standard HEIF	12 MP; up to 24 MP on newer models	.heic	iPhone 7 and later; 24 MP is the default on iPhone 15 and later
HEIF Max	Up to 48 MP	.heic	iPhone 14 Pro and later Pro models with iOS 17; other 48 MP models use Resolution Control
ProRAW	12 MP or 48 MP	.dng	iPhone 12 Pro and later Pro models, iOS 14.3 or later; 48 MP from iPhone 14 Pro

What Apple’s About Apple ProRAW article says:

• ProRAW is not HEIC. It uses the DNG format. A ProRAW photo is about 25 MB at 12 MP and about 75 MB at 48 MP, and ProRAW files are “10 to 12 times larger than HEIF or JPEG files.”
• When RAW is off, the photo uses your Camera Capture setting: High Efficiency (HEIF) or Most Compatible (JPEG).
• 48 MP ProRAW needs the Main camera at 1x. For ProRAW, Ultra Wide, Telephoto, Night mode, flash and macro photos are saved at 12 MP. For HEIF Max, Apple says the resolution changes if you use zoom or switch to Night mode or Flash.
• Live Photos are not available when ProRAW or HEIF Max is on, according to the iPhone User Guide.

For scale, a 48 MP HEIC from an iPhone 16 Pro in our sample set was 7.69 MB, and two 48 MP ProRAW files from the same phone were 83.6 MB and 86.0 MB (different scenes, so this is not a like-for-like ratio).

When a photo turns into JPEG on the way out

How you send it	What Apple says
iCloud Photos	Kept “in its original format, resolution, and frame rate”
AirDrop, Messages or email	If the receiving device does not support HEIF, the photo “might automatically be shared in a more compatible format, such as JPEG”
USB import to Photos or Image Capture on a Mac, or to a PC	The photo “might be converted to JPEG”. Tap Keep Originals if you want the HEIC
Mail, with a ProRAW photo	Mail “automatically converts the ProRAW file to a smaller JPG”
Sharing an edited ProRAW photo	A JPG with your edits is shared

Every “might” in that table is Apple’s word: conversion depends on the receiving device, so check the file extension after a transfer. For a Windows PC, Apple says to install the Apple Devices app from the Microsoft Store and, if iCloud Photos is on, download the full-resolution originals to the iPhone before you import. For the best compatibility with Windows, Apple suggests Most Compatible.

Should you switch to Most Compatible?

• Stay on High Efficiency if your photos mostly stay on Apple devices or in iCloud Photos, or storage is tight.
• Switch to Most Compatible if nearly every photo goes to Windows, Android or upload forms, and you accept larger files.
• Either way, photos you already took stay HEIC. Converting them is a separate step.

Does converting to JPG make photos worse?

Converting decodes the HEIC and compresses it again as JPG, which is lossy. That second round discards some detail; a higher quality setting discards less and makes a larger file. In our test, 12 MP JPGs at heicly’s default quality of 90 were 1.4–1.7 times the size of the HEIC. Keep the HEIC original if you want the best copy.

Resolution matters too: heicly resizes images over 16,777,216 pixels proportionally. That includes 24 MP and 48 MP photos. In our test, the 48 MP HEIC (8064 × 6048) came out as a 4729 × 3547 JPG of 4.12 MB, and the page said it had been resized.

Convert the HEIC photos you already have

The converter below runs on this page. Your photos are converted on your device and are not uploaded.

1. Click “Choose Files” and select one or more HEIC photos, or drag them into the box.
2. For a single photo, adjust the quality slider if you want a smaller file. It starts at 90.
3. Download each JPG, or download several as one ZIP.

The JPG keeps the date taken and camera details. Location is removed unless you turn on “Also keep location (GPS)”. To get JPGs straight from your iPhone instead, see 3 ways to convert iPhone photos to JPG.

Sources

Checked on 31 October 2026: Apple Support, Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices, About Apple ProRAW and Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC; iPhone User Guide (iOS 27), Change advanced camera settings and Take Live Photos.