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A megabyte (MB) is a standard unit for measuring digital information, such as the size of a file, storage capacity, or data transfer rates. However, the exact value of a megabyte can vary depending on whether it is defined in the decimal (base-10) or binary (base-2) system. 

Decimal (SI) definition 

Size: 1,000,000 bytes (\(10^{6}\)).

Context: This definition is used by hard drive and flash storage manufacturers, as well as for internet speeds and network contexts.

Example: A hard drive advertised as 500 GB has 500 billion bytes of storage. However, operating systems that use the binary definition will report a smaller capacity.