HEIF - The New iPhone Standard!! No More Storage Problem..

High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) is a file format for individual images and image sequences. It was developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) and is defined by MPEG-H Part 12 (ISO/IEC 23008-12).

The HEIF specification also defines the means

of storing High Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC)-encoded intra imagesand HEVC-encoded image sequences in which inter prediction is applied in a constrained manner.

HEIF files are compatible with the ISO Base Media File Format (ISOBMFF, ISO/IEC 14496-12) and can also include other media streams, such as timed text and audio.

The requirements and main use cases of HEIF were defined in 2013

iOS 11’s new HEIF/HEVC camera formats will save you 50% on storage

At this year’s jam-packed WWDC 2017, Apple introduced two new camera formats that are included in iOS 11: HEVC and HEIF. In using the new camera formats, Apple estimates users will be able to save up to 50% on storage needs, without any loss in image quality. This becomes the perfect solution for users on lower capacity devices, that still want to take advantage of the iPhone’s great camera.

Let’s dive in and see what other advantages these formats will bring.

What does that mean for me?

Basically, you’ll save 50% on storage when taking photos and videos using the iOS 11 camera app.

If you’re currently running iOS 11 beta 1, you can verify this by switching between the High Efficiencyand Most Compatible formats under iOS Settings → Camera → Formats. Under the High Efficiency format, images will be saved as HEIC and movies as an HEVC .mov file. Under Most Compatible, images will be saved as JPGs and movies as an h.264 .mov file.

In testing I went out at night and took a photo and video of the New York City skyline. The outputted JPG image weighed in at 2 MB, while the HEIC image came in at 1.2 MB. Similarly, the h.264 encoded video was 61.2 MB, while the h.265 (HEVC) video was 33 MB.