Downloading photos as JPG instead of HEIC

Haven't changed either, Camera > Formats was set to Most compatible, and Photos > Transfer to Mac or PC was on Automatic. But all photos still show up and transfer as HEIC to my PC when using the file explorer.

Is there any other way I could be downloading them?

I have the same problem, when connecting my phone to my PC photos have always been in jpg-format but since a week back they've all been converted to HEIC-files. Have my settings set as suggested but photos still only export in heic no matter what I do.

Really annoying that my photo library is now messed up.

I have the same issue. My settings in CAMERA are "Most Compatible" for the formats but when transferred to my MacBook Pro it stil AirDrops as HEIC. This is very counterproductive as most apps require image files in JPGs and NOT HEIC. It seems that this has been a longstanding issue. Not sure why Apple is not addressing it.

Hello TUT_O,

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities.

You may need to edit some settings on your device to stop the photos from converting. Check out the information on this page: Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices - Apple Support.

Importing this media via USB

When you import HEIF or HEVC media from an attached iOS device into Photos, Image Capture, or a PC, the media might be converted to JPEG or H.264. If you don't want it to be converted, go to Settings > Photos on your iOS device, then scroll down and tap Keep Originals.

We hope this information helps you out.

Kind regards!

Which settings did you change? The Settings for Photos > Transfer to Mac or PC or the Settings > Camera > Formats?

You need to change the Settings > Camera > Formats, so new photos and videos will not be saved as HEIC. But this will only help with new photos, not with photos that are already in the HEIC format. And the JPEGs will need more storage than the HEIC files.

And change the Settings for Photos > Transfer to Mac or PC, so any HEIC files will be automatically converted to JPEG, when do download them. But this may disable the duplicate detection, when you want to download only new photos from the iPhone. Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices - Apple Support