What HEIF is and why it matters
High Efficiency Image File Format is a modern container that typically stores images encoded with HEVC video coding, standardized by the Moving Picture Experts Group and ISO. The format was promoted for consumer photography by Apple Inc. when iOS 11 added default HEIF capture to reduce file sizes. Thomas Wiegand, Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI and Technical University of Berlin has led research on HEVC efficiency, providing the technical foundations that make HEIF attractive for photographic use.
Compression efficiency and perceived quality
The central technical advantage of HEIF over JPEG is compression efficiency. HEIF uses modern block-based and transform coding techniques from HEVC that yield substantially smaller file sizes for equivalent visual quality compared with the older discrete cosine transform techniques used by JPEG. Apple Inc. communicated up to about 50 percent storage reduction for typical photos when switching to HEIF, illustrating practical savings on smartphones and cloud storage. Thomas Wiegand, Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI and Technical University of Berlin explains that improved prediction and entropy coding in newer codecs drive these gains. Per-pixel noise behavior and fine texture handling can differ, so test comparisons matter for critical photographic workflows.
Features, compatibility, and consequences
Beyond raw compression, HEIF supports richer features that matter for photographers and archivists. The container can hold multiple images, alpha channels, depth maps, image sequences and non-destructive edit metadata. Leonardo Chiariglione, Moving Picture Experts Group highlights that the format’s design as a modern container enables these capabilities under an international standard. The consequences are practical: fewer files for burst sequences or Live Photos, reduced upload bandwidth, and smaller backups. For cultural institutions and newsrooms, reduced storage and transfer needs can lower costs and environmental footprints through reduced data center usage. At the same time, compatibility remains a key trade-off. JPEG’s near-universal support on the web, legacy software and archival systems means HEIF adoption can force transcoding or software updates. For many organizations, a hybrid approach that preserves master HEIF files while exporting JPEG derivatives balances quality, storage, access and long-term preservation.