Source: https://mactoolbox.app/glossary/bitrate # What is bitrate? By Nikhil Barik ยท Published November 3, 2026 ## Quick answer Bitrate is the amount of data used for each second of audio or video, usually in kilobits or megabits per second. A higher bitrate generally means better quality and a bigger file. ## What bitrate is File size is roughly bitrate multiplied by duration. A 128 kbps audio file uses about 1 MB per minute. Video bitrates are far higher and depend on resolution, frame rate and the codec. ## Why it matters on a Mac It is the setting that decides how big an exported or compressed file ends up. Newer codecs such as HEVC reach the same quality at a lower bitrate than H.264. ## How to check it on macOS In QuickTime Player, choose Window > Show Movie Inspector to see the data rate. Media Info in Toolbox shows the overall bitrate and the bitrate of each track. ## How Toolbox handles it Extract Audio and Convert Audio let you pick 128 to 320 kbps for MP3 or M4A. Compress Video uses quality levels (High, Balanced, Small) rather than a bitrate number. ## Frequently asked questions **Does a higher bitrate always look better?** Only up to a point. Past that point the file grows with little visible gain. **What bitrate should MP3 be?** 128 kbps is fine for speech. 192 to 320 kbps is common for music. **What is constant versus variable bitrate?** Constant bitrate uses the same data every second. Variable bitrate spends more on complex moments and less on simple ones. ## Tools mentioned - [**Media Info**: See the codec, resolution, frame rate, bitrate and metadata of videos and audio.](https://mactoolbox.app/video-codec-info-mac) - [**Extract Audio**: Save the soundtrack of a video as an audio file.](https://mactoolbox.app/extract-audio-from-video-mac) - [**Convert Audio**: Change audio files to MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC or AIFF.](https://mactoolbox.app/convert-audio-to-mp3-mac) - [**Compress Video**: Shrink video files while keeping them looking great.](https://mactoolbox.app/compress-video-mac) ## Keep reading - [Media Info](https://mactoolbox.app/video-codec-info-mac) - [Convert Audio](https://mactoolbox.app/convert-audio-to-mp3-mac) - [Codec](https://mactoolbox.app/glossary/codec) - [Sample rate](https://mactoolbox.app/glossary/sample-rate)