Apple recently released the iPhone 5s and is boasting a wide range of new features, from new hardware to an entirely new OS. While the media is focusing largely on the fingerprint scanner, I would like to take a look under the hood and talk about the new A7 chip that powers the phone. Apple was very proud to announce that this is the first 64bit phone to ever hit the market. There is no doubt that engineering a 64bit chip in a device that fits in your pocket is an impressive feat; however, very few people seem to understand how it will affect performance.
One of the biggest differences between a 32bit and a 64bit system is the ability to access memory. A 32bit system can only access about 4GB of RAM while a 64bit system can access up to 17 exabytes, or 1 billion gigabytes of RAM. In today’s world, that that is practically limitless. It is important to remember that so far, we are only talking about hardware. A 64bit chip is useless if the operating system and the applications are not written to utilize the processor.
While these numbers are quite impressive on paper, how they translate performance in the iPhone 5s is a different story. The new chip will increase performance, but probably to a lessor degree then people are lead to believe. One reason for this is that we currently do not have a need for more RAM than is supported by a 32bit system. Until the public starts pushing the capabilities of these devices to their maximum, additional RAM would be a waste. The iPhone 5s is shipping with 2GB of RAM and the likelihood of of breaking the 4GB mark is relatively low; at least any time in the near future. Cost and physical size issues aside, more RAM means more battery and this will be a major hurdle for mobile devices on which people rely so heavily on battery life.
More than anything, the new A7 chip is an exciting glimpse into the future of mobile computing. While it may be a bit ahead of its time, the notion of 64bit systems that can go anywhere opens up the possibilities of what our mobile devices are capable of and will change the way in which we use them.