How do BMP and HEICcompare? Here's everything you need to know to choose the right format — and how to convert between them.
Bitmap Image File
BMP is an uncompressed raster image format native to Windows. While it produces very large files, BMP preserves every pixel with zero quality loss, making it useful for raw image data and legacy applications.
High Efficiency Image Container
HEIC is Apple's preferred image format, used by iPhones and iPads since iOS 11. It delivers significantly better compression than JPG while maintaining higher quality, but compatibility remains limited outside the Apple ecosystem.
| Specification | BMP | HEIC |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bitmap Image File | High Efficiency Image Container |
| Extension | .bmp | .heic |
| MIME type | image/bmp | image/heic |
| Category | Image | Image |
| Developer | Microsoft | MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) |
| Year introduced | 1986 | 2015 |
| Compression | Lossless | Lossy |
Both BMP and HEIC have their strengths. BMP excels at legacy windows applications, while HEIC is better for iphone and ipad photography.
Need to switch formats? Convert for free with SquishConvert.