My initial 30 days of using the iPhone have been fantastic. The hardware updates are more than adequate for any iPhone 5 user in my opinion and justifiable no matter how you cut it for any 4S user. iOS 7.0.3 is much more stable than the initial release along with what seems to be even better battery management. What I am truly impressed with, and not just for now or iOS devices alone but for what it means for the future of smartphones and tablets in general, is the 64-bit architecture.
While some people are labeling this as a marketing gimmick, including a Qualcomm CEO I can guarantee if they had made that move first their comments would say otherwise. The A7 is a bigger part of where smartphone and tablet computing is going. iOS 7 is also 64-bit along with all of Apple’s own iOS software. This may ultimately be a move Apple took in order to bring parity with their Mac software. For example, iWork on the Mac was recently revamped to look like and work seamlessly with the new iOS versions. To do so all the advanced features were removed from the Mac versions. Although, Mac users are up in arms about it and I can’t really blame them it’s also possible it was something Apple had to do in order to eventually have those features brought back to both platforms in a way that makes sense for both touch and non-touch devices. Something that I’m guessing just couldn’t be done on the 32-bit version of iOS. Since the A7 and it’s 64-bit architecture allows for more complex computing in both smartphones and tablets I would like to think that Apple has future plans for their iWork suite than just leaving it in such a basic state as it is now.
What is good to know is that there are people out there who truly delve into the intricacies of CPUs and their underlying architectures. There’s a fantastic Q&A by Mike Ash over at Mikeash.com where he talks about the new ARM64, it’s advantages, disadvantages and compromises and another article at AnandTech. They are both extensive and informative reads but lengthy ones. So grab your favorite snack and beverage before you check it out.
Wyatt's Tech Corner 