One bit is the smallest binary information unit and represents the status 0 or 1. This measure cannot be further subdivided. There are many other units that represent multiples of a bit. One of the best-known representatives is the byte, which consists of eight bits. Since a bit can have two different states (0 and 1), there are some 28 possibilities for one byte. A byte corresponds to the smallest possible amount of data, making it an important measure to indicate memory size.
A nibble corresponds to exactly half of a byte and therefore consists of four bits. This also results in the alternative designation “half-byte”. However, the nibble didn’t always consist of four bits. For example, Apple software first combined five and later six bits into a nibble. Nowadays, the term exclusively refers to four bits. To make things fool-proof, some in the industry use unmistakable terms such as “semi-octet”, “quadbit” or “quartet”.
A nibble can have 16 (24) different values from 0 to 15. In binary numbers, this corresponds to the values 0000 and 1111 and all their possible combinations. This unit of information is primarily used in microcontrollers, communication protocols, or assembly languages.