HEIF may finally end JPEG's 25-year reign. Images: Cult of Mac/Apple
HEIF is the new photo format that Apple is using to replace JPEG. And it probably will replace JPEGs, because the iPhone is the most popular, most-used camera in the world, and as of iOS 11, most iPhones will be switching from JPEG to HEIF.
But what is HEIF? What makes it better than JPEG? And what difference will it make to you, really?
Coming soon to an iPhone, iPad or Mac near you? H.265 video, which will deliver video quality in half the file size of the old H.264 standard, and open the door for the Retina-quality video formats of the next ten years.
Known as High Efficiency Video Coding and MPEG-H Part 2, the new compression standard uses just half the bit rate for the same visual quality as H.264. Likewise, you can double the resolution of a video in the same file size. It supports resolutions of up to 7680 x 4320, making it future-proof through the new 4K and 8K HDTV resolutions.
MPEG has now officially released the draft, with H.265 expected to start hitting apps, devices and graphics chips starting 2013. iPad 4 featuring H.265 support, anyone?