[rambo47]

64 bit --- on a cell phone??? C'mon! Folks are getting all caught up in specs now.

[gg bb]

It does matter (a lot) that work is done to get a 64 bit version of qnx ready and then 64bit os10 and that the work starts now, but it does not matter that the passport released this year 2014 is 32bit.

By end of 2016 expect 64bit mobile processors to be the norm.

Expect these processors to be 16nm even 14nm die which means much better battery life.
(20nm 64bit snapdragon chips will be in phones mid 2015)



Still there's a saving grace a 32 bit os should be able to run on 64 bit hardware.

[anon8656116]

It does matter (a lot) that work is done to get a 64 bit version of qnx ready and then 64bit os10 and that the work starts now, but it does not matter that the passport released this year 2014 is 32bit.

Pretty much this. I think the only manufacturer that could make the switch to 64 bit the earliest is Apple, but only because they have such tight control over the hardware and software, an incredible adoption rate of the latter and planned obsolescence of older devices. I remember reading that OS X Yosemite will only run on Macs that support 64 bit, thereby allowing developers to phase out support for 32 bit soon. The same will undoubtedly be true for iOS as well. Give it two more years and iOS will only be supported on the iPhone 5S and later. By then we are two iPhone generations further and the switch to 64 bit will mostly have been effectuated.

Still, that has nothing to do with the PassPort and I wouldn�t worry about that in the least. However, the transition to 64 bit is one of the indicators on how quickly iOS and Android advance. BlackBerry made a jumpstart with the purchase of QNX, but they may fall behind more quickly now with the development capacity ever more reduced.

[dracolnyte]

i wonder how hard is it for bbry to invent a 128bit cpu and market it like crazy lol #justdreaming

[lift]

64 bit on a phone is absurd. There has been 64 bit processors for computers for years and years and there are still tons of programs and applications that are not written for it. Just how much serious data crunching or CPU intensive calculations need to be done on a smartphone. This whole spec race is really getting ridiculous. These are phones not supercomputers. Anything more than a 32 bit dual core CPU in a smartphone is useless and a waste of battery. Faster CPU's and CPU's with more cores use more power. More power means lower battery life. Phone manufacturers should be focusing on efficiency per CPU cycle and more efficient OS software rather than raising the specs on everything.

[itzJustMeh]

64 bit on a phone is absurd. There has been 64 bit processors for computers for years and years and there are still tons of programs and applications that are not written for it. Just how much serious data crunching or CPU intensive calculations need to be done on a smartphone. This whole spec race is really getting ridiculous. These are phones not supercomputers. Anything more than a 32 bit dual core CPU in a smartphone is useless and a waste of battery. Faster CPU's and CPU's with more cores use more power. More power means lower battery life. Phone manufacturers should be focusing on efficiency per CPU cycle and more efficient OS software rather than raising the specs on everything.

You are missing the point. Programs don't have to be 64bit, only OS. Because OS gives each app "virtual memory" - basically a part of memory that is sandboxed, so app can't access outside. Unless that app requires more than 3GB of memory, it can be 32 bit.

If my PC had 32bit CPU (and therefore 32bit OS), it would only be able to use 3GB memory instead of 16GB that it uses now.

But I agree with you, there is no need (for now) to make phones so powerful. We'll see what the future brings

[Blackberry_boffin]

You are still aware you can by a 32bit today?

[johnnyuk]

i wonder how hard is it for bbry to invent a 128bit cpu and market it like crazy lol #justdreaming

They could do what most other tech companies have done over the years in computing and just put 2 x 64-bit processors in and call it 128-bit, usually written on the case of the device in large letters where you can't fail to notice.

That's the sort of thing that end up happening when marketing departments have the last word.

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

[kfh227]

My concern is that I run and track my runs with my phone. The bulk of the Passport might be unacceptable. But I am not the target market. Business is. I want a Z50 sized between the Z10 and Z30 with updated hardware. Then I will be fine.

[undone]

Processing power, heat and power usage are all that matters in a hand held. Tight and well maintained code can run fast on the crappiest of hardware, unfortunately coding (my opinion) is loose today. The solution has been throw more/better hardware at it, which has worked, but will eventually run in to its own wall. Full size processors aren't shrink as fast that they used to, but ARM processors are still 'large' and have room to get smaller faster. ARM is/has been 32 bit, but like all cpu vendors, shrinking and die changes to 64bit are where they are going. ARM processors are in servers, desktop/laptops and phones. At some point, 64bit will be all your buying no matter the platform.

If your phone runs equally as well on a 32bit vs 64bit cpu, as a business, why buy the 64bit chip and increase your manufacturing costs (assuming different price points)? Only reason you would switch is because you need to. My guess, Apple needed to, same as Samsung.

[Jtaylor1986]

I don't think so. As far as I know the ARM V8A is backwards compatible with the previous instruction set so there shouldn't be hard obsolesence point. The main advantages of the new instruction set are support for more RAM and 64bit performs around 10% faster than 32bit on average.

[gg bb]

PCs and laptops are 64bit. Transition from 8bit to 16bit was quite quick once PCs arrived on the scene. 16 to 32 took a little longer. 32bit has lasted quite a while. 64bit is the stopping off point for silicon transistor technology.
(there may be 128 bit and even 1024bit registers and memory bus's but still silicon processors will stay at 64bit).
Its desirable for phones to be 64bit. Everything's going to need to be 64 bit.
Apple and Microsoft are on target for 64 bit because their goal is towards a single platform. Android may be further behind than BlackBerry even though they announced 64 bit phones they don't run any 64bit software!

[lift]

and 64bit performs around 10% faster than 32bit on average.

Only when using code optimized for 64 bit. Just because a processor is 64 bit does not mean it is automatically faster than it's 32 bit equivalent. I'm sure some time in the future, everything will be running 64 bit and programs will be written to optimize that. But right now almost nothing currently written for phones is written for 64 bit. It's just overkill for now and like I said, these are phones we are talking about. Not full size laptops or desktops.

[deadcowboy]

It does matter (a lot) that work is done to get a 64 bit version of qnx ready and then 64bit os10 and that the work starts now, but it does not matter that the passport released this year 2014 is 32bit.

By end of 2016 expect 64bit mobile processors to be the norm.

Expect these processors to be 16nm even 14nm die which means much better battery life.
(20nm 64bit snapdragon chips will be in phones mid 2015)



Still there's a saving grace a 32 bit os should be able to run on 64 bit hardware.

64-bit processors will be the norm sooner than that.

Posted via CB10

[kbz1960]

32-bit vs 64-bit - Difference and Comparison | Diffen

[enik]

It would be nice for running android apps once developers start pushing out 64 bit apps after android L drops

Posted via CB10

[johnnyuk]

It would be nice for running android apps once developers start pushing out 64 bit apps after android L drops

Posted via CB10

What app needs to grab more than 3GB of RAM and needs the possible 10% speed improvement of being 64-bit only AND needs to alienate 90% of its potential market by being unsupported on most devices? That's one hell of an app whatever it is.

Going 64-bit isn't really about apps at all, not in 2014 or 2015. It's about long term future proofing in terms of the OS being able to address memory ranges beyond 3GB and the battery power efficiency that happens to come along with the chipsets that 64-bit processors happen to use.

Posted from my BlackBerry Z30 STA100-2 /10.2.1.3247 on O2 UK - Activated on BES10.2.4

[jimoates014]

I need a 128 bit phone as I do real-time global weather forecasting and in my spare time design Thermo-nuclear devices and need to do all this on the bus home.

UK EE Z10/2. 3175 w. Porsche Clock + 10.3 Browser

[Cobra-Commander]

At this point 64bit don't matter because the apps and OS don't support it.

Right now 64 bit is a marketing gimmick.

Posted via CB10

[Joao Oliveira]

This video is a must watch... It will tell you all you need to know between 32 vs 64 bits. (and how 64bits it's not that relevant yet in the smartphone industry)

[D3C0D3R]

I need a 128 bit phone as I do real-time global weather forecasting and in my spare time design Thermo-nuclear devices and need to do all this on the bus home.

UK EE Z10/2. 3175 w. Porsche Clock + 10.3 Browser

OMG man, same here! I have to do that while I spear-head the Man on Mars mission!

Z10STL100-3/10.3.0.1052

[Joao Oliveira]

64 bit on a phone is absurd. There has been 64 bit processors for computers for years and years and there are still tons of programs and applications that are not written for it. Just how much serious data crunching or CPU intensive calculations need to be done on a smartphone. This whole spec race is really getting ridiculous. These are phones not supercomputers. Anything more than a 32 bit dual core CPU in a smartphone is useless and a waste of battery. Faster CPU's and CPU's with more cores use more power. More power means lower battery life. Phone manufacturers should be focusing on efficiency per CPU cycle and more efficient OS software rather than raising the specs on everything.

I would go ahead and say that maybe 80% or more of the software you install on your PC is running 32bits.... To windows users, go to [32bit]Program Files (x86) and [64bit]Program Files, and see that you don't have much stuff running 64bits. If you software doesn't run more than 4gb of ram, 64bits it's pretty much irrelevant

[deadcowboy]

Can the Passport's hardware support a 64-bit version of BB10? That's all I care about, because BB10 is quickly going to become the only 32-bit OS on the market...we're always behind.

Posted with Passport via CB10

[Joao Oliveira]

Can the Passport's hardware support a 64-bit version of BB10? That's all I care about, because BB10 is quickly going to become the only 32-bit OS on the market...we're always behind.

Posted with Passport via CB10

What do you feel that you would be loosing if you stay on 32bit?

[deadcowboy]

What do you feel that you would be loosing if you stay on 32bit?

Don't be anti-progress. It makes BlackBerry look bad even if it doesn't matter.

Posted with Passport via CB10