iOS 11’s new image compression makes your photos smaller

Over 1 trillion photos are taken on iOS every year. The next trillion won’t just look better, but they’ll also be smaller.

Apple has introduced two new codecs, HEVC (the High Efficiency Video Codec) and HEIF (High Efficiency Image Format). HEVC will consume half the storage of the current incumbent video format, while HEIF will remain compatible with other phones.

That’s a good thing, because Apple just overhauled Live Photos, allowing you to trim them and select standout images from the bunch as a ‘key photo’. It has also introduced a gorgeous long exposure effect, allowing you to create images that seem frozen in time, but without the need for a tripod.

iOS 11 also improves performance for Portrait mode on the iPhone 7 Plus – that feature that blurs out backgrounds from images – thanks to support for optical image stabilization, HDR, and true-tone flash.