Camera and media capture
Camera Formats
Most people call this High Efficiency or Most Compatible.
High Efficiency saves photos as HEIF and video as HEVC, which halves the file size, while Most Compatible uses JPEG and H.264 for wider support.
This setting is present on your iPhone.
- We have this path on file but have not yet confirmed it against an official source.
Where to find it - iOS 18 and later
- Settings
- Apps
- Camera
- Formats
What it does
HEIF and HEVC are modern formats that store the same quality in far less space. Most Compatible produces larger files that open anywhere, including older computers and some web uploads.
iOS converts automatically when sharing to apps that cannot read the newer formats, so compatibility problems are rarer than people expect.
What changes
When it is on
High Efficiency produces much smaller files.
When it is off
Most Compatible produces larger, universally readable files.
Should you turn it on?
Good reasons to turn it on
- Roughly half the storage for the same quality.
- Needed for some higher frame rate and HDR recording modes.
Good reasons to turn it off
- Older computers and some websites cannot read HEIF.
- Simpler when moving files to a non Apple computer regularly.
Battery
No real change
Privacy
No real change
Performance
No real change
Cellular data
Helps
Storage
Helps
Out of the box: High Efficiency on models that support it.
What your iPhone needs
- Needs iOS 11 or later
Where this setting used to live
Apple moves settings between releases. This is every location we have on file.
-
iOS 18 and later
Settings > Apps > Camera > Formats
-
iOS 13 to iOS 17
Settings > Camera > Formats
Questions people actually ask
- Should I use High Efficiency or Most Compatible?
- High Efficiency unless you regularly move files straight onto an older computer. iOS converts on sharing anyway.
If it is not working
- Transfer to Mac or PC under Photos controls whether files are converted when you plug in.
- Some capture modes are unavailable in Most Compatible.