mib

IPA/ˈmeb.ɪ.baɪt/
KK[mˈɪb]IPA/ˈmeb.ɪ.baɪt/

mib — noun

  • mibsingular
  • mibsplural

1. a unit of computer information equal to 1,048,576 bytes (2^20 bytes), used mainl

1.nounC1
Definition

a unit of computer information equal to 1,048,576 bytes (2^20 bytes), used mainly when describing file sizes, memory capacity, and data transfer amounts; often abbreviated as MiB in writing.

Example

Olivia downloaded a firmware update that was exactly 8 MiB in size.

measurement: file / download size

Theo's old laptop had only 256 MiB of RAM, which made modern software run very slowly.

measurement: memory / RAM capacity

Common collocations
  • MiB of RAM
  • MiB of storage
  • MiB in size
  • MiB per second
Synonyms
  • mebibyte

    the full form of the name; MiB is the abbreviation

Grammar Patterns

[number] MiB of [data/memory/storage]

Usage Note

Often confused with megabyte (MB), which equals 1,000,000 bytes (decimal). Many operating systems display file sizes in MiB but label them as MB. The abbreviation MiB is always capitalized.

Common Mistakes

This file is 5 MB in size' (when the actual value is 5,242,880 bytes).
This file is 5 MiB in size.
MB = 1,000,000 bytes (decimal), MiB = 1,048,576 bytes (binary). The two are only close in value at small numbers.
The app requires 500 mib of storage' (lowercase).
The app requires 500 MiB of storage.
The abbreviation is always capital M, capital i, capital B.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

MiB and mebibyte refer to the same binary-based unit of 1,048,576 bytes, with MiB being the written abbreviation used in technical contexts and mebibyte the full term. The more common megabyte (MB), however, is a decimal unit equal to 1,000,000 bytes. The difference grows as numbers get larger: a 100 MiB file is about 4.9% larger than a 100 MB file. In everyday computing, people often say 'megabyte' when they mean 'mebibyte,' but in precise technical writing — operating system documentation, programming, networking specs — the IEC binary prefixes (MiB, GiB, KiB) are preferred to avoid ambiguity.

MiB ↗mebibyteMBmegabyte ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • in size
  • per second

Prepositions

Etymology

English (mebi- from mega + binary)English (byte from bite, altered to avoid confusion with bit)

The abbreviation MiB was created in 1998 by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) as part of the binary prefix standard. The prefix 'mebi-' blends 'mega' with 'binary,' indicating that the unit is based on powers of 2 (2^20) rather than powers of 10 (10^6). The letter 'i' in the middle of the abbreviation signals that this is a binary (IEC) prefix, distinguishing MiB from the decimal MB.