How big is 12 Terabytes (TB)? Is It Enough For You?
Just how much storage is 12TB? For you nerds out there, 12TB is 12,000,000,000,000 bytes. But, if those numbers don't mean anything to you, you're not alone!
Even if you know your bits and bytes, numbers alone won't help you understand how much you'll get out of 12TB. Let's go over a few practical ways you can think of 12TB. So you'll know if 12TB is enough for you.
How much content fits in 12TB?
Is 12TB a lot? Even if you know how many terabytes you have, it won't make sense unless you have a good analogy for it. Think of 12TB as:
12TB is 12,000,000 high quality photos
Assuming photos are around 1MB each
12TB is 357.143 days of video
Assuming each hour of video is around 1.4GB
12TB is 4,000,000 songs
Assuming each song is around 3 minutes long, and each minute is 1MB
12TB is 1.054 years scrolling through tiktok
Assuming each video is around 13MB and you watch around 100 tiktoks per hour
12TB is 4,615,384 ebooks
Assuming each ebook is 2.6MB
12TB is 22.831 years of music
Assuming one minute of music is 1MB
12TB is 17.123 years playing video games
Assuming one hour of gaming uses 80MB
Is 12TB Enough for You?
If you're wondering if 12 Terabytes is enough for you, you'll first have to answer: is this for storage (e.g. laptop, flash drive) or for data transfer (e.g. cell phone plan or internet service)?
If it is for storage, try to estimate the number of photos and videos you need to store and compare with the section above to see if 12TB is enough for you.
Otherwise, if it is for data transfer, try to estimate the number of hours of streaming and social media you'll use and compare with the section above to see if 12TB is enough for you.
What are other ways to say 12 Terabytes?
- 12 Terabytes (TB) to 96000 Gigabits is 96000 Gigabits
- 12 Terabytes (TB) to 12000 Gigabytes (GB) is 12000 Gigabytes
- 12 Terabytes (TB) to 96 Terabits is 96 Terabits
- 12 Terabytes (TB) to 0.096 Petabits is 0.096 Petabits
- 12 Terabytes (TB) to 0.012 Petabytes (PB) is 0.012 Petabytes
Abbreviations of Terabytes
You might hear people abbreviate Terabytes as one of these:
TB
tera
teras
Is 12 Terabytes the same as 12 Terabits? (12 Terabytes vs 12 Terabits)
No, 12 Terabytes is not the same as 12 Terabits!
When internet service providers talk about data usage, they refer to the amount in terms of bits rather than bytes. For example, a typical download speed from a internet provider is often advertised as 200 megabits per second (abbreviated as "Mb" with a lower case "b").
When talking about storage on your phone or computer, people almost always refer to bytes rather than bits. You'll hear about the iPhone having 128 gigabytes (abbreviated as "GB" with a capital "B"). You'll almost never hear that the iPhone has 1024 gigabits of storage (which is the equivalent to 128GB in gigabits).
The difference between bytes and bits is important so you know exactly how much data or storage you're getting. 12 Terabytes is eight times more than 12 Terabits!
Looking for Some Other Size? Type in Any Size Below
Type in any size into the search bar below, and then click "Go". Here are some example sizes you could try out:
What are some common storage and data transfer sizes?
It might help to compare 12 Terabytes to some common sizes that are used in devices and services you already know. Here are a few examples:
Storage Sizes for Phones and Computers
In 2023, iPhones came with 5 different storage options: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.
Storage Sizes for External Hard Drives, Flash Drives and SD cards
Flash drives and SD cards can have sizes ranging from very small 1.5GB or 10GB all the way up to 2TB and even 10TB. Flash drives storage sizes typically come in multiples of two like 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB and 32GB.
Storage Sizes for Cloud Storage Providers
Google Drive has cloud storage plans for these different sizes: 15GB (for free), 30GB ($6 per month), 2TB ($12 per month), and 5TB ($18 per month).
iCloud has personal cloud storage plans for these different sizes: 50GB ($0.99 per month), 200GB ($2.99 per month), 2TB ($9.99 per month), 6TB ($29.99 per month), and 12TB ($59.99 per month).
Foyer a secure client portal has two different sizes: 1GB (free during trial) and 100GB (per month per user).
Data Limits for Cell Phone Plans
As of December 2023, Verizon has these 4 prepaid data plans: 5GB ($40 per month), 25GB ($60 per month), 100GB ($80 per month), and 150GB ($100 per month).
Data Download Rates for Internet Service Providers (ISP)
Spectrum has 3 popular internet plans, with these 300 megabits per second downloads ($49.99 per month), 500 megabits per second downloads ($69.99 per month), and 1 gigabit per second downloads ($89.99 per month).
