Photo file creation on iPhone - file type & storage advice please
Hello
iPhone 17e running iOS 26.6. I use my phone for work - construction supervision & inspection - which means I take dozens of progress photos every week, download them onto my work PC then put them in folders which go onto a project Sharepoint (and eventually an archive). I use JPEG format and image quality isn't a massive issue.
There shouldn't ever be a need to edit the photos: they will end up on a dusty cloud somewhere or maybe in court evidence one day, if something goes badly wrong.
It seems that each photo I take has 4 files when I transfer: eg: IMG_0999; IMG_0999.AAE; IMG_E0999; IMG_O0999.AAE
Have I done something stupid in settings meaning I have two virtually identical image files? Can I change this?
Are the .AAE files metadata related?
There's a minor size difference between the basic image and the E-number version. What's the qualitative difference and does it matter which one I keep?
Thanks
Richard