The arrival of the first smartphone to Apple's 64-bit has been overshadowed by the updated camera ' 5S for the iPhone and iPhone 5 colorful, but it's great deal that has huge implications for any future Apple device – as well as Intel, Google, Samsung and arm. Mike Jennings explains the technical side and the implications for future iPhone, iPad and Android competitors.
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Smartphones that use older 32-bit processors can work only with strings of data composed of 32 characters – so have a maximum capacity of just over 4 billions of numbers. A 64-bit processor has a much larger range due to the increase in the number of available figures – the data can be processed in 64-bits at a time, rather than in 32-bit blocks.
Imagine this: a team of codebreakers at Bletchley Park 32 tries to decipher the code itself. Work is slow – but the codebreakers and double you finished faster.
Or try this: you send assistants to collect 32 128 items from the same store. The four travel assistants will require 32 – but if you've got 64 assistants, two will suffice.
A 64-bit architecture is faster, get more work and is more efficient.
The 64-bit processor A7 the 5S iPhone uses the ARM architecture v8. This is the first time this new chip was used on a smartphone and Apple claims that it has twice the power as the A6 iPhone 5 chip.
A 64-bit chip brings the iPhone 5 in line with the rest of the computing world. AMD and Intel have made 64-bit processors PC since the turn of the Millennium. PS4 and Xbox consoles One AMD 64 chip-use bits.
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The added power of 64 bit will improve performance of 5S iPhone in a number of areas. The encryption used by fingerprint sensor of the phone will be fast in a satisfactory manner, and the new features of the camera also works smoothly with enhanced calculation capabilities of the chip.
These high-end applications – as well as photo and video editing and encoding, for example – are faster with 64-bit. Games, too, benefit – at the 5S iPhone launch Apple demonstrated Infinity Blade 3, which probably wouldn't be possible on 32-bit.
Apple iOS 7 was redesigned to work with 64-bit, which means that the operating system will feel smooth butter. But, given the simplicity of many applications for smartphones, it is a fact that many do not just the power of 64 bit right now.
Most developers will not have early access to Apple hardware, so it will take time for 64-bit applications. Fortunately, the new processor is compatible with 32-bit software.
Future Apple processor, iPhone or iPad, might have enough power to run console-quality games and PC applications. Shared architecture might also make it easier to port software for iOS devices.
One of the key advantages is now marketing – Apple of the first firm to us a 64-bit processor for smartphones, and that brings a lot of compliments, even if the real benefits do not come again for a while.
In a year or two and Apple phones and tablet – and each competitor – should have 4 GB of RAM with a 64-bit processor and software team in Cupertino and third-party developers will have had more time to get the most out of this new architecture – an important advantage over Samsung and Google.
That expertise will have major implications: the iPhone can use more efficient chips with longer battery life. The iPad could become even more powerful. Apple may be ARM processors with enough grunt to power laptops.
Long-term vision League of Cupertino for "platform convergence" – a strategy that may see phones, tablets, laptops and other devices to share hardware and software.
Apple chip A7: iPhone and iPad now share the same system to 64-bit Intel, and iOS and OS X already share the same kernel and developer environment. Apple claims that the A7 is a chip "desktop-class", so it's no stretch to imagine the most powerful within the laptop.
Apple also took loads of graphics: previous iPhones and iPads have GPU PowerVR, but this time is described as Apple chips.
It is not just the hardware. Your OS X desktop system borrow features from iOS in each new version now and if Apple can use 64-bit hardware ARM based on multiple devices, might follow a universal archive and the unifed software.
About demanding tasks that require Intel power? This is where the cloud could take. It is a long way off, but Apple has already worked on greatly upgraded cloud services: in 2010 it's built a data center in North Carolina for iCloud, and indicate the only plant with 20,000 servers – although that route that the room for about 1 million servers.
While its data centers use Intel Xeon hardware, it should be noted that ARM-based server already compete with Intel in some benchmarks, and AMD has ARM-chip based 64-bit servers on its roadmap.
The ARM chip to 64-bit and its successors will ensure that the next iPhone and iPads are barnstormers and could help console quality games and applications for PC quality become more prevalent on these devices.
It's great for the long-term future of Apple, though: a 64-bit processor means a further step in the convergence strategy that could see iPhone, iPad, laptop and desktop hardware, also operating system and sharing software.
Apple is the first study of smartphones to make the jump to 64-bit but, now, everyone else will follow suit – and that is only good news for consumers. It might seem like overkill, but Apple's move to 64-bit mobile is a crucial step for the proper advancement – and could point toward a future based on ARM.
Mike Jennings is a freelance technical writer. He spent five years as a senior staff writer at PC Pro and now writes about components, PCs, smartphones, tablets and laptops. He tweets from @mikejennings.
Next, read our 5S vs iPhone comparison Galaxy S4
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