HEIC to WebP Converter: Why You Should Skip JPG in 2026

Why every iPhone shoots HEIC by default

Apple introduced HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) as the default photo format with iOS 11 and the iPhone 7 in 2017. HEIC uses the HEVC (H.265) codec for image compression, which is significantly more efficient than JPEG's DCT-based compression from 1992.

The practical benefit is substantial: HEIC files are roughly 50% smaller than equivalent JPEG files at the same visual quality. For a phone that stores thousands of photos, this means approximately half the storage space consumed. Apple made this switch specifically to manage storage on devices with fixed capacity.

As of 2025, there are approximately 1.46 billion active iPhones worldwide (Statista). Every single one of them is producing HEIC photos by default. This makes HEIC one of the most widely produced image formats in the world, even though most websites and platforms still cannot display it natively.

If you have ever tried to upload an iPhone photo to a website and received an "unsupported format" error, HEIC is the reason. The format is excellent for storage but needs to be converted before most web platforms can use it. The question is: what should you convert it to? If you have been defaulting to JPG, you have been making the wrong choice.

Why converting HEIC to JPG is a mistake

The most common workflow for using iPhone photos on the web is: take photo (HEIC), convert to JPG, then upload. This is the wrong approach, and here is why.

HEIC is a lossy format. When the iPhone captures a photo, it applies HEVC compression and discards some image data permanently. The resulting HEIC file is already compressed. When you convert that HEIC to JPG, the converter decodes the HEIC data and re-encodes it using JPEG compression. This re-encoding applies a second round of lossy compression, discarding even more data.

This is called generation loss. Each time you re-encode lossy data into another lossy format, quality degrades. The degradation is especially visible around high-contrast edges, text, and fine details. And because JPEG's compression is less efficient than HEIC's, the resulting JPG file is often larger than the original HEIC despite being lower quality.

Think of it like photocopying a photocopy. The original is sharp, but each copy of a copy gets progressively blurrier. HEIC to JPG is exactly this: you are making a lossy copy of a lossy original, using an older and less efficient copying method. The result is predictably worse on both dimensions- larger file size and lower quality. Read more about how image compression works without losing quality to understand why this matters.

HEIC to WebP: the advantages

WebP uses the VP8 codec (lossy) or VP8L codec (lossless), which are modern compression algorithms comparable in efficiency to HEVC. Converting HEIC to WebP still involves re-encoding, but the quality preservation is significantly better than converting to JPG for several reasons:

• Better compression efficiency: WebP produces smaller files than JPG at equivalent visual quality, meaning you can use a higher quality setting and still get a smaller file
• Modern artifact handling: WebP's compression produces less visible artifacting than JPEG, particularly around edges and in areas with fine detail
• Alpha channel support: Unlike JPG, WebP supports transparency, which is useful if you later need to remove backgrounds
• Animation support: WebP supports animated images, making it a viable replacement for GIF as well
• Web-native format: WebP was designed by Google specifically for web use, so it integrates perfectly with Core Web Vitals optimization

The bottom line: HEIC and WebP are both modern formats that speak the same "language" of efficient compression. Converting between them is like translating between two closely related languages- very little is lost. Converting HEIC to JPG is like translating a modern novel into an ancient language with a limited alphabet. Something is inevitably lost.

File size comparison: HEIC vs JPG vs WebP

The following table shows approximate file sizes for a typical iPhone 15 Pro photo (4032x3024, 12MP) converted to different formats at equivalent visual quality (quality 80).

The key insight: converting HEIC to JPG produces a file that is both larger and lower quality than the original. Converting to WebP produces a file that is smaller than the HEIC original while preserving nearly all the visual quality. The JPG conversion is worse on both dimensions.

These numbers are based on typical photographic content. Images with lots of fine detail (text, foliage, hair) show even larger gaps between JPG and WebP quality because JPEG's block-based compression creates more visible artifacts in high-frequency areas.

WebP browser support in 2026

One of the historical arguments for converting to JPG was browser compatibility. WebP was introduced by Google in 2010, but Safari did not add support until Safari 14 in September 2020. This made WebP unreliable for a significant portion of web traffic.

In 2026, that argument is obsolete. According to Can I Use data, WebP has over 97% global browser support. Every current version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Opera supports WebP natively. The only browsers lacking support are Internet Explorer 11 (end of life in 2022) and very old mobile browsers with negligible market share.

For the remaining 3% of browsers, you can serve a JPG fallback using the HTML picture element. But for most sites, serving WebP directly without a fallback is perfectly acceptable and dramatically simplifies image management. Google, Facebook, Netflix, and essentially every major website now serves WebP by default.

HEIC on social media and messaging apps

If you upload HEIC photos directly to social platforms, something happens behind the scenes that most people do not realize: the platform converts your HEIC to JPEG automatically, using its own compression settings. You have no control over the quality.

Instagram

Instagram accepts HEIC uploads but immediately converts them to JPEG at its own quality level. The platform also resizes images to 1080px on the longest side. If you upload a 12MP HEIC, Instagram does three things at once: decode HEIC, resize from 4032px to 1080px, and re-encode as JPEG. You get a triple quality hit. Converting to WebP first and resizing to 1080px yourself gives you control over the compression quality.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp compresses every image to roughly 70-100KB and resizes to approximately 1600px regardless of the original format or size. Sending a HEIC file through WhatsApp means the app first converts HEIC to JPEG, then compresses that JPEG aggressively. The result is significantly degraded. If you need to share iPhone photos through WhatsApp, read the complete WhatsApp image compression guide for the optimal pre-compression strategy.

Facebook and Twitter/X

Both platforms accept HEIC and convert internally. Facebook re-encodes to JPEG at moderate quality. Twitter/X does the same but slightly more aggressively. In both cases, converting to a well-optimized WebP or JPEG yourself before uploading produces noticeably better results because you control the compression quality rather than letting the platform's algorithm decide.

The pattern is consistent across all platforms: if you let the platform handle conversion, you get their lowest-common-denominator compression. If you convert beforehand, you get better quality because the platform has less work to do.

HEIC vs WebP vs AVIF: which modern format to choose

WebP is not the only modern format. AVIF (AV1 Image File Format) is even newer, released by the Alliance for Open Media in 2019. It offers superior compression to both WebP and HEIC. But the question is whether you should use it today. For a deeper comparison, see the complete WebP vs AVIF vs JPEG comparison.

AVIF produces files 20-30% smaller than WebP at the same visual quality. However, it has two significant drawbacks today: encoding is 5-10x slower than WebP (which matters for batch processing), and browser support is at ~93% versus WebP's 97%+. The gap is closing, but for production websites that need universal compatibility, WebP remains the safer choice.

The practical recommendation: convert HEIC to WebP for web use today. If you are optimizing for Core Web Vitals and page speed and can serve AVIF with a WebP fallback using the picture element, that gives you the best of both worlds. But WebP alone is an excellent choice that works everywhere.

When JPG is still the right choice

Despite WebP's clear advantages, there are a few scenarios where JPG remains the better target format:

• Email attachments: Many email clients, especially older enterprise clients like Outlook 2016 and earlier, cannot display WebP images inline. JPG is the safe choice for email
• Printing services: Most online printing services (Shutterfly, Vistaprint, local print shops) accept only JPG, PNG, or TIFF. WebP is not commonly supported for print workflows
• Legacy CMS platforms: Some older WordPress installations and other CMS platforms may not handle WebP uploads correctly without plugins
• Photoshop and older editors: Photoshop added native WebP support in version 23.2 (2022). Older versions require a plugin

For all web-facing use cases in 2026- website images, social media, blog posts, e-commerce listings- WebP is the correct choice over JPG. If you need JPG for a specific use case, check the HEIC to JPG conversion guide for the best approach.

The optimal conversion workflow

Here is the recommended workflow for handling iPhone HEIC photos depending on the use case:

For web use (blogs, websites, e-commerce)

1. Convert HEIC to WebP at quality 80 using the HEIC Converter
2. Resize to display dimensions (typically 1200-1920px wide) using the Resize tool
3. Strip EXIF data for privacy (remove GPS coordinates) using the EXIF Remover
4. Compress further if needed using the Compress tool
5. Upload the optimized WebP file to your website

For editing (Photoshop, Lightroom)

• Convert HEIC to PNG (lossless) to preserve maximum data for editing
• Edit in your application of choice
• Export the final result as WebP for web use or JPG for print

For archival storage

• Keep the original HEIC files. They are already efficiently compressed and contain all the metadata
• Only convert when you need to use the photo somewhere that does not support HEIC

Batch converting HEIC photos from your iPhone

If you have dozens or hundreds of HEIC photos from a trip, event, or product shoot that need to be converted for web use, doing them one at a time is not practical. A batch workflow is essential.

The batch conversion process

1. Transfer HEIC photos to your computer via AirDrop, iCloud, or USB cable. AirDrop is fastest for small batches. For large libraries, USB transfer avoids compression.
2. Open the HEIC Converter in your browser and select all HEIC files at once. SammaPix processes up to 20 images simultaneously on the free plan (500 on Pro).
3. Set output format to WebP and quality to 80. All files are converted with the same settings.
4. Download all converted files. On Pro, you can download everything as a single ZIP file.

The entire process runs in your browser. No files are uploaded to any server, which makes it fast even for large batches- the speed depends on your device's processor, not your internet connection. A modern MacBook can convert 50 HEIC photos to WebP in under 30 seconds.

For a complete walkthrough of batch image processing workflows including compression, resizing, and format conversion in one pass, read the batch compress images guide.

Privacy: removing location data during conversion

Every HEIC photo taken on an iPhone contains embedded EXIF metadata. This includes information most people do not realize is there:

• GPS coordinates: The exact latitude and longitude where the photo was taken, accurate to within a few meters
• Timestamp: The exact date and time, including timezone
• Device information: iPhone model, iOS version, lens used, focal length
• Camera settings: Aperture, shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation
• Unique identifiers: Lens make, software version, sometimes a unique image ID

When you convert HEIC to another format, some converters preserve this metadata and some strip it. If you are publishing photos on a website or sharing them publicly, you should always strip EXIF data, especially GPS coordinates. Publishing a photo with GPS data reveals your exact location- your home address, your workplace, or the locations you frequent.

The recommended approach is to include EXIF removal as a step in your conversion workflow. After converting HEIC to WebP, run the files through the EXIF Remover to strip all metadata. For a complete guide on EXIF privacy risks and how to protect yourself, read how to remove EXIF data and protect your privacy.

If you are managing images for a website and want to automate the naming as well, the AI Rename tool can generate SEO-friendly filenames based on image content, and the Alt Text Generator creates accessibility-compliant alt descriptions. Combined with EXIF removal and WebP conversion, this gives you a complete image optimization pipeline.