[3Dee]

I'm posing this question from the perspective of someone who would be looking to the Passport as a two year commitment. To answer my own question I don't think it does as it's such a unique device, which is less likely to be left behind by developments in mobile tech demanding higher specs as it's not even playing the same game as everyone else - it's in its own league playing by its own rules.

What do you think? Does anyone have concerns?

Posted via the Android CrackBerry App!

[jelle_57]

Seen the fact that I'm still using my Z10 without any issues or major limitations for 1,5 year now, I'm fairly confident that the passport will suit me perfectly as my daily driver as well.

Of course that's personal but since I'm not an app addict, it's perfect for me.

The passport will support a 128gb memory card as I recall correctly, so I don't think that will be a deal breaker

Posted via CB10

[thurask]

It isn't too important, although I'd love to see the next BB flagship running a Snapdragon 810. Given BB's usual development speed (glacial), it would take quite a bit of time, though.

[vinniesworld]

Not sure where the 64bit comes in to it but. I have not looked at the specs so assuming it is not 64bit it doesn't make that much of a difference to be honest the same as some handsets only still using Dual Core Processors.
Fact of the matter is even though in this technology age it is almost assumed standard to have 64bit OS's most Apps to this day are not optimised for 64bit nor for that matter Quad Core processors however it works very well as a marketing gimmick.

The Passport like the Z10 will be good for a year which seems to be the lifetime of a handset in the consumer world this day and age but the specs will be good for a few years to come. The Z30 for example is still kicking it in the full touch world.
Look at it as your commitment for 2yrs not what technology and marketing dictates that you should do. My Z10 has a year to go still and it still outstrips a lot of the handsets recently released but I am committed to my Z10 and it suits me well, I have no interest in upgrading at this time.

[mike-berry]

I don't think we will have to be worrying about the bits of a device until we exceed 4gb of RAM on a device.

[bjschey]

Wait 6-8 more months and I'm sure BlackBerry will have a 64-bit phone on the market in both qwerty and full touchscreen. We all know it's coming.

Posted via CB10 on VZW BlackBerry Z30

[Matty]

Whenever people from android and apple tell me about all their 64bit this, and 20mp camera that. With their quad core this and big screen that.

I simply smile and say. Mine makes calls, it can message all my contacts. I'm able to fire off e-mails quickly & efficiently, and most importantly I'm able to do so for a long time with great battery life. I'm happy with my awesome BlackBerry so why you trying to make me change?

BlackBerry 10 Wallpapers (BBM Channel) C004635F8

[Ment]

The SOC from Qualcomm that are 64bit aren't out yet for manufacture. Besides, the functions of the Passport that center on communications won't benefit from 64bit apps. Its apps that would replace desktop content generation where 64bit be most useful and BB really isn't in that space.

[matt4pack]

Until we start seeing more then 3gb of ram on devices it's pretty pointless.

10.4 will probably be 64bit ready I would think.

Posted via CB10

[3Dee]

I swear I'm not trolling here and am genuinely interested in considering this myself (and consider the Passport one of the most future proofed devices soon to be on the market) but a couple of responses here made me chuckle given this quote from an article written over at Android Central by resident absolute guru (and BlackBerry fan of old) Jerry Hildenbrand, which got me thinking about some of this:

"And for heaven's sake � stop saying the big deal about 64-bit hardware is the ability to use more than 4GB of RAM. That's just one of the more minor features of the architecture, and pales when compared to things like the ability to fetch more data per cycle"

From http://m.androidcentral.com/why-64-b...matter-android - well worth reading

Posted via the Android CrackBerry App!

[dejanh]

No it doesn't, only 3GB of memory, no benefit to 64-bit. /endthread

@poster above - sure, but that only works if apps are optimized. Do you know how many app developers actually know how to optimize for architecture or really how many care at all? The percent would probably be near zero.

[johnnyuk]

I swear I'm not trolling here and am genuinely interested in considering this myself (and consider the Passport one of the most future proofed devices soon to be on the market) but a couple of responses here made me chuckle given this quote from an article written over at Android Central by resident absolute guru (and BlackBerry fan of old) Jerry Hildenbrand, which got me thinking about some of this:

"And for heaven's sake � stop saying the big deal about 64-bit hardware is the ability to use more than 4GB of RAM. That's just one of the more minor features of the architecture, and pales when compared to things like the ability to fetch more data per cycle"

From http://m.androidcentral.com/why-64-b...matter-android - well worth reading

Posted via the Android CrackBerry App!

By chance I happened to have already read that article and was going to mention it too. The sad thing is that the "big advantage" of 64-bit that he pushed instead of just that it supports more than 4GB of RAM is that it's the "great white hope" for finally ridding TouchWiz of the horrendous lag it exhibits on anything Samsung try to make!

It is ridiculous that Android pushers have to go the those lengths just to be able to make a responsive user interface, but hey that's the crazy world of Android.

Posted from my BlackBerry Z30 STA100-2 /10.2.1.3247 on O2 UK - Activated on BES10.2.3

[3Dee]

By chance I happened to have already read that article and was going to mention it too. The sad thing is that the "big advantage" of 64-bit that he pushed instead of just that it supports more than 4GB of RAM is that it's the "great white hope" for finally ridding TouchWiz of the horrendous lag it exhibits on anything Samsung try to make!

It is ridiculous that Android pushers have to go the those lengths just to be able to make a responsive user interface, but hey that's the crazy world of Android.

Posted from my BlackBerry Z30 STA100-2 /10.2.1.3247 on O2 UK - Activated on BES10.2.3

I don't think that's really a fair representation, or why we should care. For me, the two reasons why this matters most for BlackBerry users are:

1. Battery life and efficiency - ask Apple users why it's good to have 64 bit architecture. Okay, most of them won't have a clue, but what they should say is that is gets them amazing battery life from a battery the size of a gnats private's (to enable Apple to make slim phones primarily, and because Apple are cheap). Chip set improvement already does give gains in battery life, and from what I understand, 64 bit could give significant gains.

2. BlackBerry users should care about what happens in the world of Android as we rely on their app ecosystem. The iPhone is 64 bit and leads the way in app development. Androids will get 64 soon and in a year maybe, and more likely in two, we might find that we (and all of the other many millions of users of 32 bit architecture across all platforms) won't be able to run some of the latest, cutting edge apps.

Posted via the Android CrackBerry App!

[NamelessStar]

I don't think we will have to be worrying about the bits of a device until we exceed 4gb of RAM on a device.

^^ this people don't understand this fact however.

[johnnyuk]

I don't think that's really a fair representation, or why we should care.
Posted via the Android CrackBerry App!

I wasn't talking about why BlackBerry users should care, I was commenting on the Android Central article and its lack of good reasons for 64-bit processors.

For me, the two reasons why this matters most for BlackBerry users are:

1. Battery life and efficiency

True but not entirely because it's 64-bit. It's more to do with the fact that 64-bit processors are the focus of the research and development now so the die sizes are another step smaller, another generation on. Similar improvements in battery life would be seen at the same die size even if the processor were still 32-bit.

- ask Apple users why it's good to have 64 bit architecture. Okay, most of them won't have a clue, but what they should say is that is gets them amazing battery life from a battery the size of a gnats private's

Recent iPhone models??? The ones that gave rise to John Chen's "wall huggers" quote??? I'm sorry but I know from experience that they do not have "amazing battery life".

2. BlackBerry users should care about what happens in the world of Android as we rely on their app ecosystem. The iPhone is 64 bit and leads the way in app development.

It lead the way in app development long before 64-bit processors came along, that's nothing to do with their arrival. iPhone up until now has not been about being at the razor's edge of hardware performance, it was and still is more about the software and less about the hardware. Apple are having to address this imbalance but they've taken their sweet time.

Androids will get 64 soon and in a year maybe, and more likely in two, we might find that we (and all of the other many millions of users of 32 bit architecture across all platforms) won't be able to run some of the latest, cutting edge apps.

Your time scale is way off. 32-bit Android phones and tablets will still be the majority for more years than that and even when the balance tips in favour of 64-bit there will still be too many 32-bit users for developers to ignore. Just look at the fragmentation of Android and its versions over the years, there are still so many people using Gingerbread that app developers can't just turn a blind eye to those potential customers quite yet and think how old that is.

Just to be clear, I'm all in favour of 64-bit processors in any phone, bring it on.

Posted from my BlackBerry Z30 STA100-2 /10.2.1.3247 on O2 UK - Activated on BES10.2.3

[drinkmorejava]

I'm not sure where you heard that 64bit gives better battery life. Potentially, a 64 bit optimized program would need to keep the CPU in a high power state for a shorter period of time, but just being 64 bit does nothing. In fact, the larger memory calls probably require more power. Few of your regular apps will see any power usage benefit from 64 bit. You might be confusing the fact that newer architecture chips, which are inherently more efficient, also support 64 bit.

[dejanh]

I don't think that's really a fair representation, or why we should care. For me, the two reasons why this matters most for BlackBerry users are:

1. Battery life and efficiency - ask Apple users why it's good to have 64 bit architecture. Okay, most of them won't have a clue, but what they should say is that is gets them amazing battery life from a battery the size of a gnats private's (to enable Apple to make slim phones primarily, and because Apple are cheap). Chip set improvement already does give gains in battery life, and from what I understand, 64 bit could give significant gains.

2. BlackBerry users should care about what happens in the world of Android as we rely on their app ecosystem. The iPhone is 64 bit and leads the way in app development. Androids will get 64 soon and in a year maybe, and more likely in two, we might find that we (and all of the other many millions of users of 32 bit architecture across all platforms) won't be able to run some of the latest, cutting edge apps.

Posted via the Android CrackBerry App!

You understand that even on desktops, where 64-bit chips have been in use for over a decade now in the consumer space there are hardly any applications that actually take advantage of the 64-bit architecture properly. The likelihood of mass adoption by mobile app developers is laughable at best.

[johnnyuk]

You might be confusing the fact that newer architecture chips, which are inherently more efficient, also support 64 bit.

Yep, that's what everybody is getting confused over. It's the smaller die size and other optimisations that happen to be part of the chipsets giving the power efficiency not the number of bits that can be addressed at once.

Posted from my BlackBerry Z30 STA100-2 /10.2.1.3247 on O2 UK - Activated on BES10.2.3

[BlackberryFan777]

I don't think we will have to be worrying about the bits of a device until we exceed 4gb of RAM on a device.

Exactly.

Posted via CB10

[3Dee]

Just to be clear, I'm all in favour of 64-bit processors in any phone, bring it on.

Cool, and thanks for your further thoughts, this is a great and timely discussion to have, and an area which you're clearly v knowledgeable about. Just to come back on a few points:

Recent iPhone models??? The ones that gave rise to John Chen's "wall huggers" quote??? I'm sorry but I know from experience that they do not have "amazing battery life".

I wasn't saying that iPhones have amazing battery life, but that they GET amazing battery life out of miniscule batteries.

It [the iPhone] lead the way in app development long before 64-bit processors came along, that's nothing to do with their arrival.

That's exactly my point - so goes the iPhone, so goes app development. With iPhones 64 bit, and with Android soon to follow suit, that's the direction we can eventually expect to see.

Your time scale is way off. 32-bit Android phones and tablets will still be the majority for more years than that and even when the balance tips in favour of 64-bit there will still be too many 32-bit users for developers to ignore. Just look at the fragmentation of Android and its versions over the years, there are still so many people using Gingerbread that app developers can't just turn a blind eye to those potential customers quite yet and think how old that is.

Android L is expected to support 64 bit hardware, and the next Nexus is expected to be 64 bit, and Arm v8s are expected soon. It's not out of the question that the version of Android after L will see 64 bit as the norm. So although I quite agree with you that there will be millions of 32 bit devices and os versions in use for years to come, that may not be considered the new normal in less than two years. Plus, developers do drop support for old os versions (eg Gingerbread) when they start to impact app development.

I do entirely agree that the very earliest that most of the general public well really know or be forced to care about this is probably going to be at least a year, and quite possibly more.

Posted via the Android CrackBerry App!

[johnnyuk]

I wasn't saying that iPhones have amazing battery life, but that they GET amazing battery life out of miniscule batteries.

Cool, just a shame they are so miniscule! Sounds like iPhones 6 and 6 Plus improve things a bit.

That's exactly my point - so goes the iPhone, so goes app development. With iPhones 64 bit, and with Android soon to follow suit, that's the direction we can eventually expect to see.

Maybe you aren't aware of this but 32-bit apps will quite happily still run on a 64-bit OS and processor. Even on massively complex desktop OS's like Windows the vast majority of software doesn't need to be and isn't 64-bit even when the OS is 64-bit because the performance improvements are so negligible that it isn't usually worth it unless the software is doing extremely processor and data intensive things.

So I'm afraid we won't be seeing a mad rush of developers compiling their piddly little mobile apps as 64-bit software only to alienate the current majority of their userbase for no discernible benefit. Some 3D intensive games perhaps at a push would go this way first over time as they are usually the first to take advantage of better hardware. But the overriding factor, certainly for those who develop and sell paid apps, will be that they won't abandon 32-bit if it would mean losing money.

Android L is expected to support 64 bit hardware, and the next Nexus is expected to be 64 bit, and Arm v8s are expected soon. It's not out of the question that the version of Android after L will see 64 bit as the norm. So although I quite agree with you that there will be millions of 32 bit devices and os versions in use for years to come, that may not be considered the new normal in less than two years. Plus, developers do drop support for old os versions (eg Gingerbread) when they start to impact app development.

As a developer to run your app on 64-bit you don't have to make your app 64-bit, so there's no clock ticking for dropping support for 32-bit versions of Android at all.

I do entirely agree that the very earliest that most of the general public well really know or be forced to care about this is probably going to be at least a year, and quite possibly more.

They will neither know nor be forced to care because the change will happen seamlessly over a very long period of time. And that's a good thing because if their 32-bit hardware was suddenly rendered useless in just a year the manufactures would have street riots on their hands.

You sound like you think that everybody upgrades every device they have every 12 months. That might be what you do but my word that's not most people's and certainly not most businesses' tech refresh cycle! Have you seen the figures for Android OS version fragmentation?!

Posted from my BlackBerry Z30 STA100-2 /10.2.1.3247 on O2 UK - Activated on BES10.2.3

[Taigatrommel]

No, it doesn't matter at all. First look at the computer market. Both desktops and laptops started offering 64bit years ago and it still hasn't completely taken over. Even for Windows 8 there still is a 32bit version available. Virtually all kind of software and games still run flawlessly on the 32bit OS machines.

Next we have the modern mobile space with smartphones and tablets. Android only started supporting it with Android L, which hasn't even been officially released as a final, public version. Chipset makers are only starting to produce SoCs supporting the 64bit architecture. Taking a look at the past Android fragmentation, it takes roughly two years for a new version to become standard and the majority. Even then 1/3 of the users still use older versions, a chunk no app maker wants to miss.

Now Apple only started supporting it with their new iPhone series. Seeing that iOS 8 still gets on the 4s, the 5, as well as the 5s and 5c, which are all 32bit, I wouldn't worry all of those phones would be obsolete next year because app developers simply dropping 32bit support within just a few months. The chunk of users still using older phones is simply too big.

Last but not least Windows Phone has no current plans of 64bit that I know of. I am pretty sure there might be some built-in support when they're launching Windows Phone 9 next year, but even then, why does it matter?


The only people profiting from the new 64bit support are marketing and sales people, they found a new buzzword they can slap on their packaging, posters, billboards and ad-campaigns. "Now with 64bit!" Of course many customers will say "Wow it has 64bits, another reason to buy it!" but they won't even notice the benefits it offers.

[XCKocho]

Rumours say, that the Passport is already an EOL-device, cause the coming OS10.4 will run only in combination with a 64bit CPU. The rumoured 64Bit-device (working title Ontario) will appear Summer 2015. All in all BB needs around 18 month to roll out three large upgrades (10.0 to 10.3) so I think we will see 10.4 also in summer 2015... The Passport will be nearly a year "old".... Who knows?

[johnnyuk]

Rumours say, that the Passport is already an EOL-device, cause the coming OS10.4 will run only in combination with a 64bit CPU. The rumoured 64Bit-device (working title Ontario) will appear Summer 2015. All in all BB needs around 18 month to roll out three large upgrades (10.0 to 10.3) so I think we will see 10.4 also in summer 2015... The Passport will be nearly a year "old".... Who knows?

That's one way to make sure BB10.4, rumoured for a while now to not be called BB10 at all, does not end up running on the first generation of devices, Z10 to Classic, even if it leaks!

However it would also mean that the Passport and Classic would receive very little in the way of software updates in their life cycle. You wouldn't expect there to be major new features added in a 10.3.2.x or a 10.3.3.x if there were a 10.4.x.x also being worked on for Ontario.

Posted from my BlackBerry Z30 STA100-2 /10.2.1.3247 on O2 UK - Activated on BES10.2.3

[alternator77]

Nope doesn't matter to me

"I love when people boast about their phones...like its a pissing contest"