You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Mac Displaying Wrong File Size?

Hi Guys,


I have a problem with my mac displaying thewrong files sizes.


For example a MP4 video file that is on myPC, is 107 MB but when I copy this same file on to my mac it says the file size is 112.MB. When I check the item propertieson my pc it says 107MB (112,230,289 Bytes), which is the same size as the mac.


My question is how do I change the filesize units on my mac to equal the pc units.


Thanks

Posted on Oct 27, 2011 9:21 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 27, 2011 10:25 AM

The Mac is reporting file size in megabytes. Windows is reporting file size in mebibytes. The difference is that a megabyte is 1,000,000 bytes, while a mebibyte is 1,048,576 bytes. This change was made in Mac OS X so that reported disk sizes would agree with manufacturer's claimed sizes... most manufacturers claiming a size of 500 GB mean 500,000,000,000 bytes. Mac OS X will also call that number of bytes 500 GB, while Windows will call it 465.7 GB. That confused a lot of people.


For more information, see:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabyte#Consumer_confusion

7 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 27, 2011 10:25 AM in response to Robbie1990

The Mac is reporting file size in megabytes. Windows is reporting file size in mebibytes. The difference is that a megabyte is 1,000,000 bytes, while a mebibyte is 1,048,576 bytes. This change was made in Mac OS X so that reported disk sizes would agree with manufacturer's claimed sizes... most manufacturers claiming a size of 500 GB mean 500,000,000,000 bytes. Mac OS X will also call that number of bytes 500 GB, while Windows will call it 465.7 GB. That confused a lot of people.


For more information, see:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabyte#Consumer_confusion

Mac Displaying Wrong File Size?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.