HEIC vs PNG
| Property | HEIC | PNG |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) with HEVC compression | Portable Network Graphics |
| File extensions | .heic, .heif | .png |
| Created by | MPEG (ISO/IEC 23008-12); Apple made it the iPhone default | PNG Development Group (W3C Recommendation) |
| Introduced | 2015 (iPhone default since iOS 11, 2017) | 1996 |
| Compression | Lossy (HEVC / H.265), about half the size of a similar JPG | Lossless: every pixel is kept exactly |
| Transparency | Supported, rarely used by cameras | Yes, full alpha channel with soft edges |
| Animation | Image sequences supported; Live Photos store their video separately | Only as APNG, which few apps play |
| Typical size | About 1–2.5 MB for a 12-megapixel iPhone photo | Often 3–10× larger than JPG for photos; small for flat graphics |
| Opens on | iPhone, iPad, Mac and Safari; Windows needs an extension; most websites and Chrome reject it | Every browser, phone, computer and image editor |
| Best for | Storing phone photos in less space | Screenshots, logos, text and graphics with transparency |
Why convert HEIC to PNG?
People usually want PNG rather than JPG for one of three reasons: they are going to edit the photo and do not want a second round of lossy compression, a design tool or document template asks for PNG, or the image is a screenshot or graphic saved by an iPhone as HEIC. For those jobs PNG is the right choice.
Expect the files to grow. HEIC is one of the most efficient photo formats, and PNG stores every pixel without loss, so a 2 MB iPhone photo often becomes a 10–20 MB PNG. That is normal, not a fault. If you only need the photo to open on Windows or upload to a website, HEIC to JPG gives files about the size of the original.
The decoder reads the HEIC on your device (using the browser itself where it can, or a built-in libheif decoder elsewhere), applies the photo's rotation, and writes the PNG. Photo details such as the date and location are not copied into PNG; choose JPG output and tick Keep photo info if you need them.