How to Change Default Image and Video Formats in iPhone X, iPhone 8 and 8 Plus

By Deepak Rajawat • Updated On 6 Oct 2017

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New Apple devices- iPhone X, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 8 – will be running on the latest iOS 11 software out of the box. Apart from the hardware improvements in the cameras of new iPhones, Apple has also added a photo compression codec on the software side of things to shrinks the size of the images almost by half without compromising on image quality.

Apple manages to achieve this by saving images in HEIF instead of JPEG/JPG and videos in HEVC (H265) instead of MP4 (h264) format. By default, all the iOS 11 running devices will take images/videos in these new formats.

Also Read: 5 Apple iPhone X Features That Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Already Had

What is HEIF and HEVC?

HEIF stands for High-Efficiency Image File Format

HEIF compesstion technique losslessly saves images in half of JPG size

HEVC stands for High-Efficiency Video Coding

It is an advanced version of Advanced Video Coding (.H264) in lossless quality taking less storage space

There is one problem with these new formats, though. These are not as popular as JPEG and .H264 format. These new codecs are gaining popularity, and in time, will become mainstream. Till then, however, each time you share these images with someone who isn’t using iOS 11 or macOS High Sierra, your images will be converted to older formats.

Well, Apple has given you the option (if in case you are interested) to save videos or images in older JPEGs and MP4 (H264) formats as well. Here’s how you can do it:

Also Read: Top 10 Exciting Pixel 2 And Pixel 2 XL Software Features

Save Photos and Videos in JPG and MP4 in iOS 11

First Step: Go To Settings and tap on Camera settings

Second Step: Tap on ‘Formats’ option under Camera settings

Final Step: Select ‘Most Compatible’ instead of ‘High Efficiency’

Now your iPhone will capture all the images and videos in a general, more popular formats.

One more thing: we just want to point out here is that if you want to shoot videos at 4K with 60FPS or full HD videos at 240FPS you will have to switch back to ‘High Efficiency‘ settings. If you shoot in ‘Most Compatible‘ your iPhone 8, 8Plus and iPhone X will only shoot 4K videos at 30 FPS and 1080p videos at up to 120 FPS.

Change Default Image and Video Formats in iPhone 7, 7Plus

Like the new iPhones, previous generation iPhones which are running on iOS 11 will also capture images in these new efficient file systems by default. You can follow the same steps to change default photos and videos to JPG and MP4 formats from HEIF and HEVC and vice-versa.

Google Pixel 2 XL FAQ: All Your Questions Answered

Deepak Rajawat

Deepak Rajawat is a technology journalist and editor with over 12 years of experience in both print and digital media. Before transitioning to online journalism, he contributed to renowned publications including Hindustan Times and The Statesman.

At Smartprix, Deepak reviews smartphones, laptops, TVs, and soundbars, with a focus on answering the real-world questions that matter most to consumers. Over the past decade, he has reviewed more than 1,000 devices, combining hands-on expertise with a user-first approach.

A graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication from Calcutta University, Deepak also follows emerging technologies closely—including Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR). Earlier in his career, he covered sports with the same passion he now brings to tech.

He is based in Noida and joined Smartprix in September 2015.

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