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.
Megabyte (MB)
The megabyte, symbolized as MB, is equal to 1,000,000 bytes in the decimal (SI) system, although in computing, it is often regarded as 1,048,576 bytes (1,024 KB). The term emerged in the 1960s as computers and storage capacity increased, making kilobytes insufficient for describing larger files. Megabytes are used for text, images, and small software applications, providing a human-readable scale for digital data capacity while bridging metric and binary conventions.