Fine on your Mac, a problem everywhere else
Macs have read HEIC since macOS High Sierra, so you can AirDrop a hundred iPhone photos across and never notice what format they’re in. Then you:
- email them to a colleague on Windows, who sees an icon and no photo,
- upload them to a client portal or job application that only takes JPG or PNG,
- hand a USB stick to a print shop or a relative’s smart TV,
- drop them into a web app or older design tool that doesn’t recognise the format.
Converting before the photos leave your Mac saves the back-and-forth.
Preview export vs this tool
Preview can convert HEIC, and for one or two photos it’s the quickest thing going. Bigger jobs are where it gets fiddly.
| Preview (File → Export) | This tool | |
|---|---|---|
| A single photo | Quick | Quick |
| A folder of 300 photos | Select all, Export Selected Images, set options | Drop the folder |
| Output formats | JPEG, PNG, HEIC, TIFF and more | JPG, PNG, WebP (AVIF and PDF on sister pages) |
| Remove GPS while converting | Not built in | Default |
| Download as one ZIP | No | Yes |
| Works on a non-Mac too | No | Any browser |
If you’re happy in Preview, carry on. If you’re converting regularly, or sharing a workflow with colleagues on other platforms, a browser tool is easier to pass around.
Colour, done the Mac way
iPhone photos are Display P3, and Mac screens show P3 beautifully. We embed that profile in the JPG, PNG or WebP, so the converted photo looks the same in Preview as the original did. If the files are heading somewhere older or less colour-aware, switch Colour to sRGB to avoid dull-looking results.
Which format to send
- JPG for anyone, anywhere. The safe default.
- PNG if the recipient will edit the photo and wants no compression artefacts. Files are much larger.
- WebP for websites. Smaller than JPG at similar quality; see HEIC to WebP.
For large folders with presets for email or the web, use the batch HEIC converter.
Mac-side privacy
The conversion runs in your browser, not on someone’s server. Your photo library doesn’t get uploaded anywhere, which is handy when the folder in question is a client’s product shoot or your family holiday. If you share the files afterwards, location is already stripped unless you choose to keep it.