The simplest explanation is that a JPEG is an image, where every pixel’s color and brightness is defined. A Raw photo is not an image, per se, it’s a file that contains all the data collected by the camera. You can then take that data and turn it into a JPEG by selecting how you want to render that data, so it’s infinitely flexible, whereas a JPEG is already an image where those decisions have been made (either automatically by the camera or by a user during editing).
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