should we expect 64 bit WIndows Phones very soon??? from the NT kernel??

[awilliams1701]

64bit architecture is totally irrelevant for today's phone hardware because A) phones will never ship with more than 4GBs of RAM -if they do then that would be irrelevant as well B) almost 99% of the apps will have to be coded to take advantage of 64bit mode -developers are not going to want to do this unless you have an app that you think will take advantage of the 64bit architecture .... Fun fact: 3/4ths of desktop apps are 32bit still C) apps will be bigger in size if they are coded to utilize the 64bit architecture.

Really? Haven't we learned by now its a bad idea to say never. The 1020 already has 2GB. 4GB is only a matter of time. 4GB on 32 bits is possible, but it creates complications if you want to use the full 4GB. 4GB+ practically demands 64 bit. Also it doesn't matter that apps are 32 bit. My computer has 8GB ram and that means that I can run a 32bit app that uses a full 4GB of ram without problems. You can't do that in the 32 bit world.

 

[Fade_z]

Can Current wp8 be ported to 64?

 

[FinancialP]

You guys are thinking of 64-bits from a PC mind.

 

[Calvin Cooper1]

64bit architecture is totally irrelevant for today's phone hardware because A) phones will never ship with more than 4GBs of RAM -if they do then that would be irrelevant as well B) almost 99% of the apps will have to be coded to take advantage of 64bit mode -developers are not going to want to do this unless you have an app that you think will take advantage of the 64bit architecture .... Fun fact: 3/4ths of desktop apps are 32bit still C) apps will be bigger in size if they are coded to utilize the 64bit architecture.

Its completely relevant if WP wants to keep up with everyone else. In another few months Samsung will have 64bit phones as well as Apple. Doesnt matter if we need them or not, people want the latest and greatest.

 

[tk-093]

Screw that, I want 65 bits! MOAR BITS!!!!


p.s. I don't know if I'd call it a gimmick.. That phrase was thrown about a lot when the first Galaxy Note launched. Now everybody is popping out monster phones.

 

[foxbat121]

The new Iphone will ship with a 64bit processor. With that OS, it stands to be REALLY awesome once apps are built to take advantage of it.

You won't see advantage until next iPhone that ships with 4GB of RAM. There is no advantage today on < 4GB of RAM.

 

[foxbat121]

Also it doesn't matter that apps are 32 bit. My computer has 8GB ram and that means that I can run a 32bit app that uses a full 4GB of ram without problems.

No you can't. 32-bit apps are still running inside WoW64 VM that limits apps to around 2GB of memory access normally and with specially flag when compiled, able to access < 3GB of RAM max. But since OS is 64-bit, you will be able to load more 32-bit apps at the same time.

 

[Divjot Singh]

Why should WP have it ? Just coz Apple did something doesn't necessarily mean that entire world has to follow up. They haven't even produced a phone with 2gig ram.

Also Apple probably did it to make iOS7 support it and hence power the next iPad , coz Surface (or 2) specs are really great and Apple might be losing to it

 

[smoledman]

Having a 64-bit bus will lead to better throughput, it's not about having > 4GB RAM. Apple ahead of the curve as usual on things that matter.

 

[ChMar]

It's not important for apps anyway. Smartphones do not have swap like desktop pc. So every piece of app is either in memory or not (killed). So in order to support faster app switch and thus multitasking for a couple of apps there are restriction for how big apps can be. This means something around 350mb total ram for an app on higher ram devices. This means around 10 apps running in ram simultaneously for 3gb ram as supported by an x32 architecture. I don't think smartphone will allow you to have more than this number of apps in memory

 

[hopmedic]

64 bits on a phone with less than 4GB of RAM is pointless. You don't increase throughput at all. The 64 bits is all about how much memory you can access, and until the phone has 4GB of RAM (which will happen someday), putting a 64 bit processor or OS into it is a waste.

 

[fdalbor]

Not to knock anyones thoughts or ideas; but I kind of get the feeling we are all getting ahead of ourselves. Sure in time everything will be 64 bit, but do we really need it or are we going to be able to use i once we do get it.. From what I have observed most people use about 30% or less of the power of the phones they have now. Sure; in time, when the costs warrant it. Kind of like the apks thing, do we really use 500,000 apks or more. I kind of doubt it. But it sounds good, even if its useless.

Who would have thought that we would have phones that do what they can do a few years ago. It will be interesting to see where we are heading in the next few years. And I am sure there will be plenty people who will want them. For better or for worst. Aint life grand. fdalbor

 

[foxbat121]

I believe Apple just started this hardware 64-bit war. There is no doubt Android will race to be next. I don't think WP will in that kind of hurry as always because it brings no real gain for the phones currently, or in near future, on the market other than the bragging right. Bragging rights are what Android phones really have all the time.

 

[Groover1971]

I think that sometime next year or the year after, we will see a Windows Phone running a version of Window 'X', not Windows Phone 'X'. It will essentially be a small Surface Pro with a phone built in. It is bound to happen. If Microsoft doesn't do it, someone else will. Then you will see 64-bit phones and plenty of software to run on them. I can't see it not happening.

 

[Squachy]

I think that sometime next year or the year after, we will see a Windows Phone running a version of Window 'X', not Windows Phone 'X'. It will essentially be a small Surface Pro with a phone built in. It is bound to happen. If Microsoft doesn't do it, someone else will. Then you will see 64-bit phones and plenty of software to run on them. I can't see it not happening.

It'll probably happen once RT and WP combine together. The x86 vs ARM architectures will keep the two Window OS's apart until they get combined.

 

[AngryNil]

I wouldn't call it a marketing term, since it's a legitimate descriptor that has been used for ages. The problem is that it seems to bring little benefit for the foreseeable future on phones.

 

[1101x10]

The ARM 64bit CPU's are more significant in competing with Intel. The latest Haswell CPU's offer very little performance gain, but more power saving while ARM are increasingly catching up on the performance. I'm guessing Apple are looking at unifying their laptops with ARM CPU's instead of Intel. Replacing a 64 bit Intel chip with a 64 bit ARM cheap will be easier. I think this is why Microsoft seem so keen to keep the ARM version of RT alive.

 

[N_LaRUE]

The ARM 64bit CPU's are more significant in competing with Intel. The latest Haswell CPU's offer very little performance gain, but more power saving while ARM are increasingly catching up on the performance. I'm guessing Apple are looking at unifying their laptops with ARM CPU's instead of Intel. Replacing a 64 bit Intel chip with a 64 bit ARM cheap will be easier. I think this is why Microsoft seem so keen to keep the ARM version of RT alive.

Doesn't Apple make their own chips for their phones? I can see them dumping Intel for their own chips possibly.

Again though, 64 bit processors are only useful if everything is in place to utilise the 64 bits. If not then you're only get half benefit as we know with Windows PC software as the majority of it is still programmed in 32 bit.

 

[1101x10]

Doesn't Apple make their own chips for their phones? I can see them dumping Intel for their own chips possibly.

Again though, 64 bit processors are only useful if everything is in place to utilise the 64 bits. If not then you're only get half benefit as we know with Windows PC software as the majority of it is still programmed in 32 bit.

They license ARM to design their chips for the phone.

 

[foxbat121]

The ARM 64bit CPU's are more significant in competing with Intel. The latest Haswell CPU's offer very little performance gain, but more power saving while ARM are increasingly catching up on the performance. I'm guessing Apple are looking at unifying their laptops with ARM CPU's instead of Intel. Replacing a 64 bit Intel chip with a 64 bit ARM cheap will be easier. I think this is why Microsoft seem so keen to keep the ARM version of RT alive.

Actually, it is the other way around. Intel is closing the gap on power consumption compared to ARM while maintain the performance gain. ARM is struggle to keep the performance up without sacrificing power consumption (checkout Samsunb's 8-core Exynos CPU design). ARM is still no where near the performance level of Atom processors. And yet, new Atom based tablet running Windows8 has similar battery life as ARM based RT tablet.