Question:

Why were storage capacities on Galaxy phones previously marked as decimal units instead of binary units?

After updating to One UI 6.0 (Android U OS), why does the storage capacity appear different even though the data remains the same?

Answer:

Previously, storage capacities were displayed in decimal units to prevent user confusion, as decimal units are more commonly understood by general consumers. This practice was consistent with how storage capacities are displayed on Windows PCs. However, discrepancies arose when comparing the phone's displayed capacity to the capacity displayed on other devices using binary units.

With the One UI 6.0 update, Samsung decided to change the storage capacity display from binary units to decimal units to align with industry standards and improve user understanding. As a result, the displayed capacity now appears different compared to earlier versions of the software. Internally, however, the capacity remains unchanged, and the available storage space for your files remains the same.

<Notation of Storage space on the device installed or updated with One UI 6.0 (Android U OS)>

•  Old : Binary notation(GiB)
•    1 GiB = 1 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 bytes

•  New : Decimal notation(GB)
•    1 GB = 1 * 1000 * 1000 * 1000 bytes