Is 64 bit the future?

[areithropos]

After reading the inofficial news about possible high-end phones: Is 32 bit still a viable option (say, a Lumia 640 XL)? Or is it probable that developers would more support 64 bit in the future and 32 bit plays the second fiddle?
I ask because I am thinking about buying a Lumia 640 XL and plan on using it for a while before buying a new one; so I ask if it is still good in your opinions to rely on a 32 bit phone.
(I read too that Apple is furthering their 64 bit systems and their 32 bit systems get more and more pupled.)

 

[Don Geronimo]

I think it's a big 'it depends,' but regardless of 32 or 64 bitness of a phone, unless you have a need for the things 64-bit processing will bring (more bits means larger numbers can be processed, and as a consequence supports larger amounts of RAM past the 4 GB mark), I don't think its benefit will be immediately noticeable by the average consumer in the short-term future.

That being said, things could definitely change faster than someone thinks. A 64-bit phone might be more future proof though, even of the immediate benifits right now are purely academic.

 

[areithropos]

Good to know; well, I think a 32-bit phone should be enough for some time.
I just hope Microsoft does not enforce 64-bit in the near future like Apple allegedly.
It would just be enough for me to keep HERE Drive running while browsing or changing music (fear not, I do not mean while driving) or to safely look up a word in a dictionary while typing something like now (German mother tongue here) and without the fear one app gets suspended that it starts all over again.

For such usage a 640 XL seems to be enough for a while, or am I wrong? At least, I suspect it is nothing 64-bit would be of greater use to me.

 

[Don Geronimo]

I think it should be fine for what needs you describe for now.

When you're ready for an upgrade at a realistic time in the future, you can decide if your next phone needs 64-bit.

 

[vEEP pEEP]

Just curious - what do you think would be better about a 64 bit phone?

After reading the inofficial news about possible high-end phones: Is 32 bit still a viable option (say, a Lumia 640 XL)? Or is it probable that developers would more support 64 bit in the future and 32 bit plays the second fiddle?
I ask because I am thinking about buying a Lumia 640 XL and plan on using it for a while before buying a new one; so I ask if it is still good in your opinions to rely on a 32 bit phone.
(I read too that Apple is furthering their 64 bit systems and their 32 bit systems get more and more pupled.)

 

[Zulfigar]

I think we're still in the beginning phases of a 64-bit phone OS, mainly because we're just now hitting the 3GB's of ram, and 64-bit OS's don't really do anything noticeable until 4GB of ram (32-bit OS's can only use 3.7-3.8 GB of ram while 64-bit OS's can use terabytes, I don't remember there actual number, of ram).

So a 32-bit OS is still going to be perfectly fine for a coupled more years, until 4K (not qHD) really comes out (considering it needs 4GB+ of ram).

 

[ygtgngr]

I think we're still in the beginning phases of a 64-bit phone OS, mainly because we're just now hitting the 3GB's of ram, and 64-bit OS's don't really do anything noticeable until 4GB of ram (32-bit OS's can only use 3.7-3.8 GB of ram while 64-bit OS's can use terabytes, I don't remember there actual number, of ram).

So a 32-bit OS is still going to be perfectly fine for a coupled more years, until 4K (not qHD) really comes out (considering it needs 4GB+ of ram).

Theoretically 16.8 million terabytes.

 

[realwarder]

Quantum computers are likely the future.

Phones don't need over 4GB RAM so 64bit is not much use today practically.

 

[areithropos]

Just curious - what do you think would be better about a 64 bit phone?

For me? Not much.
I got just reminded of Apple as they enforced 64-bit support of app developers because their new phones use 64-bit (if I am not mistaken) and some articles foretold that maybe support of the older 32-bit operating systems would get dumped by app developers in favour of the 64-bit versions in the long run.

As long as Microsoft is not going to use a similar strategy I think I am more than fine with 32-bit.

 

[Shobin Drogan]

There are rumors about an 840 around the corner, I'm just really hoping Microsoft gives it a good processor, a snapdragon 618/620 would be fantastic. The 600 series processor is something that windows phone is sorely lacking right now.