HEIC Format — What is High Efficiency Image Container?
HEIC is a modern image format used by Apple devices. It offers superior compression compared to JPEG while maintaining higher image quality, but has limited browser support.
Extension
.heic
Compression
Lossy
Transparency
Yes
MIME Type
image/heic
Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- • 50% smaller than JPEG at same quality
- • Supports transparency
- • Stores multiple images
- • Apple device default
❌ Cons
- • Limited browser support
- • Patent encumbered
- • Requires conversion for web use
- • Not widely supported
Best Use Cases
- iPhone/iPad photos
- Apple ecosystem
- Storage optimization
- High-quality archival
Technical Details
HEIC uses HEVC (H.265) codec for compression within an ISOBMFF container. It supports 16-bit color depth, HDR, and can store image sequences and auxiliary images.
History
HEIC was adopted by Apple in iOS 11 (2017) as the default photo format. It's based on the HEIF standard developed by MPEG.