Megabyte - GCSE Computer Science Definition

A megabyte is a unit of digital information used to measure the size of data on a computer. It is often abbreviated as MB. In terms of storage, a megabyte is equal to 1,000 (1024) kilobytes. Bytes are small units used to measure data, so a megabyte can store a small song, a few photos, or a short video. Understanding megabytes is important for managing digital files and knowing how much space you have on devices like smartphones, tablets, and computers. When downloading or saving files, you'll often see sizes measured in megabytes to help you understand how much data you're using.

Edexcel GCSE Computer Science uses Mebibyte (MiB), where 1 MiB = 1024 kilobytes (binary). AQA and OCR use Megabyte (MB) in the decimal sense, where 1 MB = 1000 kilobytes. This distinction affects how students perform calculations involving storage capacity and size.