Why your camera shoots HEIC by default
MKMira Kovač · May 13, 2026 · 4 min read
Your phone quietly switched to HEIC years ago, and the reason is pure arithmetic: storage.
The math
A modern phone camera produces enormous images. At JPG sizes, a full photo library would fill the device — and Apple’s cloud storage — far faster.
HEIC roughly halves each file at the same quality, effectively doubling how many photos fit.
Quality wasn’t the trade-off
Because HEVC compression is so much more efficient, the smaller files don’t look worse. You get JPG-beating quality at half the size.
The only cost is compatibility, which is why converting to JPG on demand still matters.
What to do about it
Leave your camera on HEIC to save space, and convert copies to JPG whenever you need to share outside Apple’s world.
MK
Mira KovačWrites about privacy and file formats at Convertur. Previously a media-pipeline engineer.