“Tablets running a 64-bit version of Windows 8.1 on top of Intel’s 64-bit Atom processor, Bay Trail, are set to debut at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month.,” Mark Hachman reports for PCWorld.
“Industry sources pointed to Apple’s introduction of the 64-bit A7 chip last September as the forerunner that goaded competition,” Hachman reports. “‘Once again, Apple changed the game on everybody,’ said one source (who declined to be identified to protect business relationships). After the A7’s launch, demand for 64-bit technology skyrocketed, forcing other tablet makers to follow suit.”
“In the case of 64-bit Android platforms, some of the silicon appears to be outpacing the hardware. Intel, not Google, completed work on a 64-bit version of the Android 4.4 OS for x86 smartphones in January,” Hachman reports. “Ars Technica has been tracking the flow of 64-bit commits into the source code repository, github, as well as the Android Open Source Project, which Google tends to enrich after it releases a new version of its Android OS. The publication guesses that 64-bit Android will become a mainstay at the end of 2015, when both a 64-bit version is released, and major applications begin to take advantage of the new features.”
Read more in the full article here.
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2015! End of.
Meaning 2016 :o)
… for the beta.
Yes. I would love to know how long it took Apple to get it ready for prime time. I would guess 24-30 months. Can that tangled Android world get it’s act together that quickly. I truly doubt it. Apple has control of the HW and OS. I’m guessing add another year onto that guesstimate. What will the demo consist of, a static desktop?
About time MS dusts off Courier again.
The fact that it’s even being touted as being 2015 is rather pathetic.
The key is not 64 bit.
The key for Apple is what 64 bit allows.
Meanwhile, Apple is fast approaching 100 million devices in the wild with 64-bit “technology”. By the time these other devices hit the street with 64-bit goodness, Apple will be on its second generation 64-bit CPU and have over 200 million 64-bit devices sold.
And by then, the 64 bit app population will be significant.
Could be 3rd generation actually
… but I’m sure they told me that 64 bit on a hand held device was merely a marketing gimmick.
alanaudio….I must have been typing that the same time as you. It was pathetic back then.
What is far worse is that technology experts of all stripes stepped forward to pooh-pooh Apple’s achievement. Smear artists, all of them, trying to tarnish the leader whilst secretly accelerating their own development, preparing to grab the glory for themselves.
It’s always the same damn thing. First, someone markets pre-sliced loaves of bread. Then competing pitchmen pipe up with “only lazy folks will fall for this gimmick”. Actual consumers ignore the talk and buy sliced bread. Then every bakery invests in slicers.
So much for all the derisive comments about Apple’s 64 bit technology just being a market ploy. Back in September, these pages were covered with ridiculous slams against Apple and there being no need for 64 bit stuff. Apple caught them all with their pants down.
Typical disingenuous face-saving Fandroid tactic if we have something they don’t is to downplay it
I love the fact the Fandroid or Fragmandroiders are denied first 64-bit bragging rights. You know they would rub it in our faces if they could. Just the kind of geeky tech spec they obsess over. Adding bigger iPhones into the argument will let out most of the air of the Fandroid argument tires.
Most of the REST of the air I meant to say.
Samsung should just switch to “2 bits” because Samsung is nothing but a two bit crook.
I am going to make a real wild guess here, which others have no doubt analyzed.
I can see an iPad/AirPad with the 64 bit ARM chip running in iOS as needed, yet when connected to a monitor, it can boot into OSX as needed and the touch screen becomes the trackpad and keyboard for the external monitor.
ARM chips won’t replace the raw power of INTEL CPUs, but it is easy to see what will happen when you need the functionality of the full OSX when on the go.
Show me a few 64-bit apps that really shine. Come on…
Apps that need large memory bandwidth will benefit from 64-bit, however that is not the strategy here. The A7 is THE early shift to 64-bit for Apple, setting a new foundation. Real world benefit of 64-bit may not be obvious until the A8 or A9, but getting the code base to migrate to 64-bit is critical for success later on. Once again, Apple leads while Android follows.
Oh, you mean on Android…?
Wait, given that there are hardly any tablet-optimized apps for Android, what’s the rush for 64 bit anyway? Oh I see, a feature to print on the packaging, rather than something that anyone will use, to continue the cluster-fsck that is Android tablets.
Now Android will not only have to race against Apple but MS too. I’m sure MS will advertise the hell out of it, and it will make Android look very far behind. The Article just could not give Apple any credit. They were talking about how Google does not have secure container for enterprise. That that was important for BYOD. . They did not mention that Apple has this. All they said was Intel may (or may not) do it and that Samsung has Knox. They can’t bring themselves to admit just how far Apple has kicked their ass.
Another interesting fact is that Surface Pro and other Intel-based tablets running Windows 8.x (not RT) are the only tablets that can sync with iPods (that are not iPod touch), such as the currently sold iPod nano and shuffle, plus all the “legacy” iPods out there. They can do this, thanks to Apple’s standard iTunes app, which has a Windows version.
Ironically, Apple is making a push toward customers using their iPads (and even iPhones) as their primary computer, yet they cannot sync with “regular” iPods, including models that are currently being sold as new. Those iPods require a Mac, or windows PC, running iTunes. Tablets that run Windows 8.1 can are basically Windows PCs.