These are the main advantages and disadvantages of the HEIC format: Whether you use it or not will depend on what you need. The HEIC file format has its benefits - but also a few downsides. This later led to other manufacturers, such as Microsoft and Canon, embracing the HEIF format. In switching from JPEG to HEIC, Apple improved their space-saving capabilities and kept up with the increasing quality of their smartphone cameras. So it was the natural next step for Apple operating systems to move to HEIC files in 2017 as part of the iOS11 and macOS High Sierra updates.

While HEIC has grown in popularity due to being Apple’s standard file format, the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) developed the original HEVC and HEIF technologies.Īpple previously adopted MPEG’s Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) standard for iTunes, and newer iPhones started using the HEVC/H.265 video format in the mid-2010s. The file also contains the relevant metadata describing each image’s size, resolution, location, and more. heics extension, depending on the number of images inside. This space-saving file format uses High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) to compress and store images on device drives - taking up half the space of other image file formats, like JPEGs.Įach HEIC file uses the. HEIF essentially saves images in higher quality than JPEG while also using less space thanks to advanced compressive technology. The format is an updated variant of the High Efficiency Image Format (HEIF), traditionally used by Apple across its mobile devices.Īpple uses HEIC for HEIF images.

HEIC stands for High Efficiency Image Container. When you take a photo on your iPhone or iPad, the image – or images, in the case of dual cameras and live photos – saves as an HEIC file.

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