Downloading images from iCloud as both jpeg and heic formats

Hello rtcary2,

Thank you for posting in the Apple Support Communities. From my understanding, the HEIF image format downloads from iCloud to your Mac regardless of whether you select Unmodified Original or Most Compatible, and I'd like to share some information with you.

Capturing images in HEIF is recommended. It offers a better compression than a JPEG format so that images use less storage on your devices and in iCloud Photos all while preserving great quality. If the images were originally taken using High Efficiency, then it's likely that the HEIF format is the best compatible when downloading.

Moving forward, you may be able to change the format to JPEG so that new photos will use JPEG when selecting Most Compatible. On your iPhone, tap on Settings > Camera > Formats > Most Compatible. The support article below provides additional information, which may be helpful:

Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices

I hope this information is useful. Kind regards.

When I download photos from www.icloud.com on my Mac with macOS 10.15.3, I am having the two options "Unmodified Original" or "Most compatible including edits".

• With "Unmodified original I am always getting the original, unmodified HEIF files.
• With "Most compatible including edits" the result will depend on whether the photo has been edited or not. Ip the photo has adjustments applied, the downloaded file with the edited version will be a JPEG, but if the photo has not been edited and the original doubles as the current version, I will get the original HEIC file. That makes sense, as the HEIC file is much smaller than a JPEG version of the same quality would be, and HEIC is fully compatible with macOS X.

The meaning of "Most compatible" depends on the system version of the destination device.