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Format

Overview

HEIC (HEIF container with HEVC) is common on Apple devices for efficient camera photos.

Features

  • Efficient mobile camera capture
  • High quality at smaller sizes than many JPGs
  • Burst/live photo container capabilities

Advantages

  • Saves phone storage
  • Strong quality/size ratio

Disadvantages

  • Uneven desktop and web support
  • Often needs conversion for sharing

Format details

Typical file size
Typically smaller than equivalent high-quality JPG from the same camera pipeline.
Transparency support
Yes — Possible in HEIF family; camera stills are usually opaque.
Animation support
Yes — Live Photo–style sequences exist in the broader HEIF family.
Compression type
Lossy (HEVC-based) in typical camera HEIC
Browser support
Limited compared with JPG/PNG/WEBP; conversion is often required for the open web.

Common uses

  • iPhone photos
  • AirDrop/share pipelines before conversion

Related formats

Related compression tools

Related editing tools

Image editing tools will appear here when published.

Related guides

Related knowledge

FAQs