iPhones save photos as HEIC by default. The format is efficient, but many websites, upload forms and older apps still want JPG. Your Mac can convert them in several ways, all free.
Finder: the fastest way for a batch
- Select the HEIC photos in Finder.
- Control-click and choose Quick Actions › Convert Image.
- Set Format to JPEG and choose an image size.
- Click Convert. JPG copies appear next to the originals.
Preview: one photo, with a quality slider
- Open the HEIC photo in Preview.
- Choose File › Export and set Format to JPEG.
- Adjust Quality and click Save.
To convert several at once in Preview, open them together, select all the thumbnails in the sidebar and choose File › Export Selected Images, then pick JPEG under Options.
Photos: export as JPEG
In the Photos app, select the photos, choose File › Export › Export Photos, and set Photo Kind to JPEG.
Terminal: sips
macOS includes a command-line image tool. To convert every HEIC file in the current folder:
for f in *.heic; do sips -s format jpeg "$f" --out "${f%.*}.jpg"; done
Stop the iPhone making HEIC
On the iPhone, go to Settings › Camera › Formats and choose Most Compatible. New photos are saved as JPEG. Files will be larger.
With Shrinker Studio: convert and finish the job
If the converted photos are going on a website or to a client, Shrinker Studio can do the rest in the same pass:
- Convert HEIC to JPEG, or to WebP, AVIF or JPEG XL, which are smaller at the same quality.
- Let Looks the same pick the smallest file that still looks identical.
- Resize, add a watermark, and rename from a template.
- Strip location and camera data with the Metadata step, which keeps only the copyright by default. iPhone photos often carry the GPS location where they were taken.