iPhone Pictures Unreadable by Computer

Overview

Newer iPhones, or newly updated iPhones may by default change the photo or video format to the newer “High Efficiency” codecs [HEIC]. These codecs are only able to be used by Mac computers whose operating systems are at 10.13 (High Sierra) or newer. On campus - Since all of the operating systems in both the computer labs and edit suites are using version 10.12 (Sierra), all of the Miller editing computers will not read or open the files created with the “High Efficiency” codecs.

Solution

Change the following setting on your iPhone camera:

1. Go to Settings, scroll down to Camera

2. Select Formats, select “Most Compatible”.

Selecting Most Compatible will always give you the .jpeg format for your photos and the H.264 .mp4 format for your video. If you leave the “High Efficiency” format selected, your photo format will be .HEIF and your video format will be the HEVC H.265 .mp4 codec which will not be readable by any computers running macOS 10.12 (Sierra) or older.