# Convert HEIC to JPG on your Mac

> Turn iPhone HEIC photos into JPEG copies that open anywhere, on your Mac, keeping HDR highlights when it can. Nothing is uploaded. Smally for Mac.

- URL: https://meetsmally.com/heic-to-jpg/
- Language: en
- Spanish version: https://meetsmally.com/es/heic-a-jpg/
- Site map for assistants: https://meetsmally.com/llms.txt

Smally for Mac opens iPhone HEIC photos and can save an As JPEG copy that opens on any computer, phone or website. Your photos never leave your Mac.

## Drop. Check. Keep.

1. **Bring your file.** Drag it onto Smally, open it with Smally from Finder, or choose Compress with Smally from the Services menu. There is no setting to pick.
2. **Have a look.** See the new size in the row and compare the copy with its original before you keep it.
3. **Keep the lighter copy.** Save puts it next to the original, named like photo-smally. Smally never replaces your original or any file already there.

## What Smally does with a HEIC

Smally opens HEIC photos, but it cannot check a smaller HEIC against its quality rule yet, so it keeps the original HEIC. The row can offer As JPEG, a copy that opens on any computer, phone or website.

Smally makes this copy for photos up to 40 megapixels, including 12-megapixel iPhone photos. If the copy comes out no lighter or cannot be written, it keeps the HEIC and the row says why.

## HDR and the honest edges

- HDR photos from an iPhone carry a gain map that lets an HDR display show bright highlights. Smally carries it into the copy when it can, and tells you when it cannot.
- The JPEG is often larger than the HEIC and keeps no date, camera or location. Use it when you need a photo that opens everywhere, not to save space.
- Animated images, other HDR formats, 10- and 16-bit images and CMYK images are skipped, with a sentence that says what to do instead.

## Why not in the browser

Smally in the browser does not read HEIC files. Smally for Mac does, and nothing is uploaded.

## Quick facts

| This kind of file | Smally in the browser | Smally for Mac |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What it takes | Not HEIC: the browser version does not read it | HEIC photos |
| What it makes | Nothing | The HEIC is kept; the row can offer As JPEG, up to 40 megapixels |
| What stays | The file, untouched | The HDR gain map goes into the JPEG when it can; no date, camera or location |
| Per batch | Not handled here | Up to 50 files at a time |
| Where it is processed | In this tab, on your device. Nothing is uploaded | On your Mac. Nothing is uploaded |
| When the original is kept | Always: HEIC is not handled here | The JPEG would be no lighter or cannot be written |

## Questions

- **Does Smally upload my photos?** No. Smally for Mac works on your Mac, and your files never leave it.
- **Does the JPEG keep the HDR look?** Smally carries the photo's HDR gain map into the copy when it can, and tells you when it cannot.
- **Will the JPEG be smaller than the HEIC?** Often not. HEIC is an efficient format, so the JPEG is often larger. As JPEG is for a photo that has to open everywhere.
- **Does the JPEG keep the date and location?** No. The JPEG keeps no date, camera or location.
- **How big a photo can it convert?** Smally makes an As JPEG copy for photos up to 40 megapixels, including 12-megapixel iPhone photos.

## More

- [Compress JPEG](https://meetsmally.com/compress-jpeg/)
- [Compress PDF](https://meetsmally.com/compress-pdf/)
- [Compress video](https://meetsmally.com/compress-video/)

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Smally for Mac. Smally for Mac 0.16.0 (build 35, beta) needs Apple silicon and macOS 26 or later; download: https://downloads.meetsmally.com/latest. Files are never uploaded. Source of truth: https://meetsmally.com/heic-to-jpg/