HEVC vs H.264: Which Codec Should You Use on iPhone?

The choice between HEVC and H.264 is one of the most consequential decisions you'll make about your iPhone video workflow. This single choice affects storage requirements, upload speeds, compatibility with other devices, and ultimately how much you pay for cloud storage each month. Yet most iPhone users have never heard of these codecs and have no idea what their phone is recording in.

Understanding the differences between these two codecs is essential for anyone serious about managing their digital life. The good news is that modern iPhones make the choice relatively straightforward—but only if you know what you're choosing and why.

This guide provides a complete comparison of HEVC and H.264. You'll learn what each codec does, why one is dramatically more efficient than the other, which situations call for each codec, and how to convert between them when necessary.

The Fundamental Difference: Age and Efficiency

To understand why HEVC and H.264 produce different file sizes, you need to grasp that these aren't just different formats—they represent different generations of compression technology, separated by a decade of innovation.

H.264, also known as AVC (Advanced Video Coding), was released in 2003. At that time, video was primarily recorded on cameras and edited on computers. Smartphones didn't exist yet. H.264 was designed with that world in mind: relatively high bitrates, editing-focused quality requirements, and broad compatibility with whatever hardware existed in 2003.

HEVC, also known as H.265 (High Efficiency Video Coding), was released in 2013. By then, smartphones had taken over video recording. HEVC was designed specifically for the mobile world: low power consumption, efficient compression to reduce storage burden, and hardware acceleration on mobile processors.

The result is that HEVC encodes the same visual content in roughly 40-50% less data compared to H.264. This isn't a minor efficiency gain—it's a fundamental breakthrough in compression technology. The same 10-minute 4K video that takes up 3.75GB in H.264 takes up only 1.9GB in HEVC. That's not a rounding error. That's the difference between staying on the free iCloud tier and paying $10 per month.

Why HEVC Is More Efficient

The efficiency difference comes from advanced compression techniques that simply didn't exist in 2003. HEVC uses larger analysis windows to find redundant information within frames. H.264 analyzes 16×16 pixel blocks; HEVC can analyze blocks as large as 64×64 pixels. Larger blocks mean the encoder can spot patterns that smaller-block analysis would miss.

Temporal compression—the part that removes redundant information between frames—is also dramatically improved in HEVC. HEVC can look further ahead in the video to predict which pixels will appear in future frames. H.264 prediction is more limited, which means more data needs to be stored to represent the differences between frames accurately.

HEVC also introduces new encoding tools like improved entropy coding and better handling of edges and details in video frames. All of these improvements combine to create compression that's simply impossible to achieve with H.264, no matter how much you increase the bitrate.

The Compatibility Trade-off

The catch is that HEVC's compression efficiency comes at a cost: it requires more processing power to encode and decode. H.264 encoding and decoding is computationally simple, which is why virtually every device can handle it. HEVC requires more powerful processors or specialized hardware acceleration.

This is why H.264 remains so widely used despite HEVC being more efficient. Any device, no matter how old or underpowered, can play H.264 video. But HEVC support is device-dependent. Older iPhones, older Macs, Windows PCs, and older Android devices might not support HEVC playback at all.

When to Use HEVC: The Modern Choice

For iPhone users in 2024, HEVC should be your default choice. Modern iPhones (iPhone 7 and newer) support HEVC recording and playback. Modern Macs support HEVC. Modern Android phones support HEVC. The ecosystem has shifted.

The primary reason to use HEVC is storage efficiency. If you're recording video on your iPhone and syncing to iCloud, HEVC saves you literal money every month. The 30-50% file size reduction directly translates to lower iCloud storage needs. If you're currently paying for 2TB of iCloud because of video storage, switching to HEVC might let you drop down to the 200GB tier, saving $100+ per year.

HEVC is also better for upload speeds. Smaller files upload faster, especially on cellular connections. A video encoded in HEVC uploads in roughly half the time compared to H.264. This is particularly valuable if you're trying to back up videos to iCloud over a cellular network.

Battery life during playback is also slightly better with HEVC due to hardware acceleration on modern iPhone processors. The difference is minor—maybe 5-10% better battery efficiency—but it adds up over thousands of videos viewed.

The HEVC Sweet Spot: Personal Library

HEVC is perfect for your personal video library. Your iPhone recordings, family videos, vacation footage—anything you're keeping long-term on your device should be in HEVC. The storage savings are enormous, and every device you're likely to use to watch these videos supports HEVC.

The only exception is if you have very old devices in the mix. An iPhone SE from 2016 or an iPad from 2014 won't play HEVC. If you're sharing videos directly with people using ancient devices, you might need H.264. But if you're sharing via cloud storage, streaming services, or messaging apps, those services typically handle codec conversion transparently.

When to Use H.264: Backward Compatibility and Editing

H.264 remains the right choice in specific situations where compatibility is more important than efficiency.

If you're recording video that needs to be compatible with a wide range of devices—perhaps you're a videographer working with multiple clients who use different editing software or older devices—H.264 might be safer. Every single device can play H.264. No exceptions. No worries about compatibility.

H.264 is also the safer choice if you're editing video on older computers or using older editing software. Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and other professional software all support HEVC editing, but some older versions might struggle. If you're using a computer released before 2015 or editing software from the early 2010s, H.264 is more reliable.

There's also a philosophical argument for H.264: it's the proven standard. If you want maximum assurance that your video will be playable on any device for decades to come, H.264 is safer. HEVC is widely supported now, but there's always a possibility that some obscure device or software won't support it. H.264 has proven compatibility across virtually everything.

The H.264 Trade-off: Storage Cost

The downside to H.264 is immediately obvious in your storage bill. The same videos that take 30% of the space in HEVC take 100% of the space in H.264. If you have a 64GB iPhone and you're recording in H.264, you can store about half as much video compared to HEVC.

This trade-off rarely makes sense for most people. You're potentially spending thousands more on storage to guarantee compatibility with devices that might not even exist in a few years. For most iPhone users, HEVC is the rational choice from a cost-benefit perspective.

Detailed Technical Comparison

Beyond efficiency and compatibility, HEVC and H.264 differ in specific technical capabilities that affect video quality and flexibility.

Resolution and Bit Depth Support

H.264 was designed with 1080p as its primary target. While it technically supports higher resolutions, it wasn't optimized for them. HEVC was built from the ground up for 4K, 8K, and beyond. This matters because HEVC's compression techniques are specifically tuned for the complexity of 4K video.

H.264 also doesn't support 10-bit color depth, which means it can't efficiently encode HDR (high dynamic range) video. HEVC supports 10-bit color depth natively, which is essential for HDR content. If you're recording HDR video on your iPhone, HEVC is not just better—it's essentially required to properly preserve the HDR information.

Frame Rate Capabilities

Both codecs support frame rates up to 120fps or higher. The difference is efficiency at high frame rates. H.264 can technically encode 60fps video, but it requires much higher bitrates than HEVC to maintain quality. For 4K 60fps video, you might need 50+ Mbps with H.264, but HEVC can achieve similar quality at 25-30 Mbps.

This matters for iPhone recording because iPhones can now record 4K video at 60fps or even higher. HEVC makes high frame rate recording practical from a storage perspective. The same iPhone recording in H.264 would fill up storage in minutes.

Color Profile Support

HEVC supports more color profiles and color spaces than H.264, which is relevant for professional video work or content that uses specific color standards. For casual iPhone video, this difference doesn't matter. But for content creators or professionals, it's one more reason to use HEVC.

Real-World File Size Comparison

Understanding the efficiency difference abstractly is one thing. Seeing actual file size numbers makes it concrete.

Consider a 10-minute 4K video recorded at 30fps on an iPhone 15 Pro. In H.264 at typical iPhone quality settings, this video is approximately 3.75GB. The same video in HEVC at similar quality settings is approximately 1.9GB. That's a 1.85GB difference for a single 10-minute video.

Now extrapolate: if you record just one hour of 4K video per month (fairly typical for someone who records videos regularly), that's 22.5GB in H.264 versus 11.25GB in HEVC. Over a year, that's 270GB of difference. The difference between a 100GB iCloud plan and a 2TB plan is exactly that kind of storage gap.

For 1080p video at 30fps, a 10-minute clip is approximately 600MB in H.264 versus 220MB in HEVC. Again, roughly 65% savings with HEVC.

These aren't theoretical savings. These are real gigabytes that either stay on your device and in your backup, or they cost you actual money in storage fees.

Cost Impact

Let's quantify the financial impact. If you record 1 hour of 4K video per month and use H.264, you need approximately 22.5GB of backup storage per month, or 270GB per year. Apple's iCloud storage tiers are 5GB (free), 50GB ($0.99/month), 200GB ($2.99/month), 2TB ($9.99/month). With H.264, you'd likely need the 2TB tier at $9.99 per month, or $120 per year.

Using HEVC for the same video recording, you need only 11.25GB per month, or 135GB per year. This fits comfortably in the 200GB tier at $2.99 per month, or $35.88 per year.

The difference is $84.12 per year, just from switching codecs. If you record more video or have multiple family members doing the same, the savings multiply.

How to Choose Your Default Codec on iPhone

Modern iPhones have settings to control which codec is used for recording. Here's how to ensure you're using the right one.

On iPhone, open Settings, then go to Camera, then Formats. You'll see an option for "Camera Capture Format." The options are typically Efficiency (which uses HEVC) and Compatibility (which uses H.264). For most people, Efficiency (HEVC) should be selected.

If you specifically need H.264 for compatibility reasons, you can switch to Compatibility mode. But be aware that this will increase your storage usage significantly. Only make this choice if you have a specific, ongoing reason to need H.264 compatibility.

Pro Camera Recording Apps

If you use third-party camera apps or professional recording software, they typically have their own codec settings independent of iPhone's built-in Settings. Check the app's settings to ensure it's using HEVC unless you have a specific reason to use H.264.

Converting Between Codecs: When and How

Sometimes you have video in H.264 and need it in HEVC, or vice versa. Converting between codecs is straightforward but requires using a video compression tool.

The process involves re-encoding the video using the target codec. This is the same process as compression—you're reading the H.264-encoded data and writing it out as HEVC-encoded data (or the reverse). The quality remains essentially the same if you use equivalent bitrate settings.

For converting H.264 to HEVC, you can use HEVCut on iPhone to batch convert older videos to HEVC. This is particularly useful if you have a large library of old iPhone videos recorded in H.264. Converting them to HEVC can free up significant storage without any quality loss.

Converting HEVC back to H.264 (for compatibility with older devices) is also possible using the same tools, though you're going backward in compression efficiency. The resulting H.264 file will be larger than the HEVC original.

HDR Considerations: HEVC's Advantage

HDR (High Dynamic Range) video has become increasingly common on newer iPhones. iPhone 14 and later can record HDR video. If you're recording HDR content, HEVC is more than just better—it's the right choice.

H.264 doesn't efficiently support HDR because it doesn't support 10-bit color depth. You could technically encode HDR video in H.264, but it would require significantly higher bitrates and would lose much of the HDR benefit. HEVC's 10-bit support is specifically designed to preserve HDR information efficiently.

If you're recording HDR video, make absolutely sure you're using HEVC. Storing HDR video in H.264 defeats the purpose of recording HDR in the first place.

Sharing Video: Codec Matters

When you share videos from your iPhone to other people or platforms, the codec affects how quickly it uploads and how well it compresses during sharing.

If you're sending through iMessage or another messaging app, HEVC's smaller file size means faster upload on cellular. The smaller video also means fewer resources used by iMessage's own compression systems. You get better results faster.

If you're uploading to cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive), HEVC's smaller size means faster upload times. Depending on the service, you also might hit storage limits later with HEVC.

Social media platforms (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram) handle any codec, so there's no compatibility issue. But uploading HEVC video is faster than uploading H.264.

The Future: HEVC Is Becoming Universal

The trend is clear: the entire ecosystem is moving toward HEVC. Newer devices support it. Cloud services optimize for it. Streaming platforms prefer it. H.264 will remain supported for backward compatibility, but HEVC is becoming the new standard.

This trend accelerates the recommendation to use HEVC. The longer you wait to migrate your workflow to HEVC, the more H.264 videos you'll accumulate that eventually need conversion. Starting with HEVC now means you're already future-proofed.

Summary: Which Codec Should You Use?

For iPhone users in 2024, the answer is almost always HEVC. It's more efficient, saves storage, speeds up uploads, and is supported on all modern devices. The only reason to use H.264 is if you have a specific compatibility requirement with older devices or legacy software. Even then, the cost of that compatibility—in terms of storage and money—is usually not worth it.

Choose HEVC. Record in HEVC. Back up HEVC. Convert old H.264 videos to HEVC. Move on with your life knowing you've made the right choice for your storage, your wallet, and the future.