DB LabsQuick Answer
Your iPhone shoots HEIC by default, which is about half the size of JPEG at the same visual quality. JPEG is the universal fallback, selected by switching Camera Formats to Most Compatible. ProRAW on Pro models produces 25–75 MB files with far more editing latitude. Live Photos quietly store a three-second video alongside every still, roughly doubling their footprint.
HEIC: The Default Since iOS 11
HEIC is Apple's implementation of the HEIF container, holding an image encoded with HEVC. It reaches roughly half the file size of JPEG at equivalent perceived quality, which is a genuinely large saving across a library of twenty thousand photos.
It also does things JPEG cannot: 16-bit colour instead of 8-bit, real transparency, and multiple images in one file, which is how Live Photos and burst sequences are stored.
The cost is compatibility. Windows 10 and earlier need a codec installed. Some older photo software and web upload forms reject it. In practice iOS converts to JPEG automatically when you share to an app that cannot handle HEIC, so most people never encounter the problem. Our HEIC glossary entry has more.
JPEG: When Compatibility Wins
Switch to JPEG at Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible. Every photo is then written as JPEG and every video as H.264.
Two consequences worth knowing before you flip it. Your photo library will grow roughly twice as fast. And 4K at 60fps plus 1080p at 240fps slo-mo become unavailable, because those modes require HEVC.
For most people the better approach is to leave the camera on High Efficiency and convert only when exporting, using Settings → Apps → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC → Automatic.
ProRAW and ProRes on Pro Models
ProRAW combines a raw sensor capture with Apple's computational processing, giving you the tonal latitude of raw while keeping Deep Fusion and Smart HDR. Files run 25–75 MB against 2–5 MB for HEIC, so a day of shooting fills gigabytes.
It earns its space when you intend to edit seriously: recovering blown highlights, heavy white balance correction, aggressive shadow lifting. For photos going straight to Instagram it is pure overhead.
ProRes is the video equivalent, at roughly 6 GB per minute in 4K. On iPhone 15 Pro and later you can record it directly to an external drive over USB-C, which is the only practical way to work with it.
Live Photos: The Hidden Multiplier
A Live Photo is a still plus 1.5 seconds of video either side. That makes it roughly twice the size of the equivalent still, and it is on by default.
Across a large library this is one of the biggest silent costs. If you rarely use the effect, turn it off with the concentric-circles icon in the Camera app, then set Settings → Camera → Preserve Settings → Live Photo so it stays off.
For photos you already have, selecting several and using Duplicate → Duplicate as Still Photo strips the video, though it creates copies you then have to clean up.
A Practical Setup
For most people, the settings that balance quality against space are:
- Formats: High Efficiency.
- Live Photos: off unless you actively use them.
- ProRAW: enabled in settings, toggled on per shot.
- Keep Normal Photo under HDR: off, so you are not storing two copies.
- Transfer to Mac or PC: Automatic, so exports convert themselves.
Format choice slows the rate at which your library grows. It does nothing about the photos already there — that is what Swype Photo Cleaner is for. Compare specific formats in our ProRAW vs HEIC vs JPEG breakdown.
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