Kibibyte (KiB)
The kibibyte, symbol KiB, is a binary unit equal to 1,024 bytes, introduced by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in 1998. The unit addresses the difference between metric kilobytes (1,000 bytes) and binary kilobytes (1,024 bytes) in digital systems. Kibibytes are used in operating systems, file systems, and technical documentation for precise, unambiguous measurement. This clarity supports accurate handling of digital memory and storage.
Mebibyte (MiB)
The mebibyte, symbol MiB, equals 1,048,576 bytes (1,024 KiB) and was introduced by the IEC in 1998 to eliminate ambiguity between MB (decimal) and MiB (binary). It is commonly used in operating systems, memory specifications, and technical documentation where exact binary measurement is required. Mebibytes provide clarity and consistency, especially in software development and systems engineering, ensuring accurate memory allocation, storage calculations, and file size reporting.