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icloud heic pictures convert to jpeg when saved on macbook pro

When I take pictures on my iPhone they are in the heif format. However, if I remove them from the iCloud to store them on my MacBook Pro, they convert to jpeg format. Is there anyway to maintain the heir format, as it sound like that format is superior, without keeping all of your photos in the iCloud ?

Posted on Nov 22, 2022 2:52 PM

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Posted on Nov 23, 2022 8:57 AM

HEIF is a very efficient format. But there are not a lot of viewers that can read it, yet. But if you are viewing the pictures with recent versions of Photos or Preview, then you're OK. There are two settings on the iPhone that control this.


Settings>Camera>Formats should be set to High Efficiency

Settings>Photos>Transfer should be set to Keep Originals


Preview can be used to convert the image to jpg later if you need to. Just duplicate and save as jpeg,

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Nov 23, 2022 8:57 AM in response to alliesma

HEIF is a very efficient format. But there are not a lot of viewers that can read it, yet. But if you are viewing the pictures with recent versions of Photos or Preview, then you're OK. There are two settings on the iPhone that control this.


Settings>Camera>Formats should be set to High Efficiency

Settings>Photos>Transfer should be set to Keep Originals


Preview can be used to convert the image to jpg later if you need to. Just duplicate and save as jpeg,

Nov 23, 2022 9:17 AM in response to alliesma

"However, if I remove them from the iCloud to store them on my MacBook Pro, they convert to jpeg format. "


How are you doing this? In Photos for Mac you can simply use "File > Export > Export unmodified original" to keep the HEIF format on export. Do not use drag and drop, as that will export the JPEG preview. Also exporting the edited versions will create a JPEG, PNG, or TIFF, depending on your export settings in the export dialog.


icloud heic pictures convert to jpeg when saved on macbook pro

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