Should I use 64-bit mode on my Mac?

16 years ago

“When Apple released Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, they talked about a 64-bit kernel and being able to use applications under that mode,” Michel Munger writes for Mac Support Central. “I want speed. Should I use 64-bit?”

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“There sure are good reasons to use the 64-bit mode but it is not everyone who can do it,” Munger writes.

“The first reason would be your use of ramdom-access memory (RAM). If you have more than 4 GB installed in your Mac, this allows your software to access it. The second is speed. 64-bit operations require less steps, therefore less time to execute,” Munger writes. “However, things are never quite simple.”