HEIC vs JPG: What's the Difference and Which Should You Use?
HEIC and JPG are both photo formats — but they behave very differently. Here's what each one is good for and when to convert.
Introduction
Your iPhone shoots HEIC. The rest of the world runs on JPG. If you've ever wondered why your photos sometimes cause problems when you try to share or upload them, the format war between HEIC and JPG is almost certainly the reason.
Here’s a straight comparison — what each format actually is, where each one wins, and when you should convert.
What Is HEIC?
HEIC stands for High Efficiency Image Container. It's Apple's implementation of the HEIF standard (High Efficiency Image Format), developed by the MPEG group and adopted by Apple in 2017 with iOS 11.
Every iPhone and iPad has been shooting HEIC by default since then — unless you’ve manually changed the camera settings.
HEIC’s main advantages:
Roughly half the file size of an equivalent JPG at similar visual quality
Supports 16-bit colour depth (vs JPG’s 8-bit)
Can store multiple images in a single file (used for Live Photos and burst shots)
Preserves more EXIF metadata, including depth maps
What Is JPG?
JPG (or JPEG — Joint Photographic Experts Group) has been the dominant photo format since the early 1990s. It’s supported by virtually every device, app, browser, and platform on the planet.
JPG’s main advantages:
Universal compatibility — Windows, Android, Linux, web, email, all of it
Supported natively by every image editor, social platform, and camera app
No special codec required to open or view
Fewer compatibility failures compared to newer formats
Where HEIC Wins
If you stay in the Apple ecosystem — iPhone to Mac to iCloud — HEIC is genuinely better. You get smaller files with no quality loss, which means more photos fit on your device and uploads to iCloud are faster.
For photographers who use Apple devices exclusively, HEIC is a sensible default. Just don’t expect it to travel well.
Where JPG Wins
The moment a photo leaves the Apple ecosystem, JPG wins by a mile.
Sending a photo to an Android user? JPG.
Uploading to a business website? JPG.
Submitting to a stock photo library? JPG.
Attaching to an email for a Windows user? JPG.
Importing into Figma, Canva, or Photoshop? JPG.
JPG is the lingua franca of photos. It’s not the most efficient format, but it’s the one that works everywhere without extra steps or codecs.
The Practical Verdict
Keep HEIC on your iPhone — it saves storage and the quality is excellent.
Convert to JPG before sharing — any time you’re sending a photo outside Apple’s ecosystem, uploading to a web platform, or importing into a design tool.
The conversion takes about three seconds. 👉 Link-Trim’s free HEIC to JPG converter does it instantly, without storing your file or requiring an account.
How to Change Your iPhone to Shoot JPG
If you’d rather skip the conversion step entirely, you can tell your iPhone to shoot JPG by default:
Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible
Your photos will be slightly larger, but they’ll open on any device without extra steps.
Conclusion
Both formats have their place. HEIC is Apple’s clever solution to a storage problem. JPG is the world’s agreed-upon standard. When they conflict — which they do constantly — a quick conversion is the fastest fix.
For the simplest solution today, drop your HEIC file here and get a JPG back in seconds.
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