Traditionally, iPhones have taken JPEG photos just like most other smartphones, but starting with iOS 11, the format switched to HEIC, which caused some problems for iPhone users. But Apple did have a couple of reasons for the change. Just considered one of the most annoying pop-up messages iPhone users can receive, saying you’ve run out of iCloud storage. It’s a problem that virtually everyone has. After they’ve accumulated enough apps, photos, and videos, the only solution is to delete those. Apps, photos, and videos or to buy more cloud storage space for a monthly fee to prevent this problem.
Apple focused on reducing the number of space photos and videos took up since those tend to be users’ largest categories on their iCloud and iPhone storage. But how can you significantly reduce the file size of photos and videos without reducing their quality? Well, that’s where the IC comes in. It compresses images and videos much more efficiently, leading to photo-taking up 40 to 50%. Less space compared to its JPEG equivalent and without being able to tell a difference between the two visually. In fact, there are areas where HEIC outperforms JPEG, like improved highlights, shadow details, and mid-tones. There’s also an extended dynamic range and 16-bit color as opposed to Jpegs, 8-bit color profile so users can enjoy higher quality photos that take up half the space as before. But there is one downside to EIC. And that is compatibility. Most PCs and Android devices don’t support it unless they’re running the latest versions of their operating systems. It’s still a relatively new file type, so gaining support across platforms will take time. Until then, iPhone users may have trouble transferring images and videos to certain PCs or Android devices. There have even been bugs in iOS that prevent HECC images from downloading and being viewed in iMessage, so a few values. Convenience and compatibility are more than saving space, you can always revert back to using JPEG in your iPhone’s camera settings.
