Why is Apple Dropping 32-bit App Support and How Will it Impact Your App? (2024)

FAQs

Why is Apple Dropping 32-bit App Support and How Will it Impact Your App? ›

This means that many legacy apps will no longer function at all. The answer to why Apple is dropping 32-bit app support is quite simple: to improve the performance of the iPhone.

The obvious development reason is to simplify and unify the code base, tools, and build process across all of their platforms. 32-bit bugs can also be ignored/deleted for future versions.

Apple has been working with developers to transition their apps, and in 2018 Apple informed them that macOS Mojave would be the last version of macOS to run 32-bit apps. Starting with macOS Catalina, 32-bit apps are no longer compatible with macOS.

A 32-bit system can access 2³² different memory addresses, i.e 4 GB of RAM or physical memory ideally, it can access more than 4 GB of RAM also. A 64-bit system can access 2⁶⁴ different memory addresses, i.e actually 18-Quintillion bytes of RAM.

Unfortunately, macOS 10.14 was the last version to support running 32-bit games on macOS. Apple chose to drop support for 32-bit applications in macOS 10.15 (released 2019), and since many developers have not updated their games to support 64-bit executables, some games will effectively stop functioning on macOS.

Most applications don't use enough memory to need the extra address space. If your application never uses more than 500MB of memory it won't benefit from being a 64-bit application. A 32-bit application can easily access 500MB of memory, or even 2GB.

Do 32-Bit Apps Run Faster on 64-Bit Systems? The short answer is: it depends. The performance relies on many factors that aren't necessarily connected to whether a system implements a 32- or 64-bit architecture.

iOS 10 is the final version of iOS that supports 32-bit devices, including the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, and the fourth-generation iPad, as its successor, iOS 11, drops support for those models. iOS 10 is also the final iOS version to support 32-bit applications.

With 64-bit apps, you have up to 128 TB of virtual address space which the app and any add-ins running the same process can share. With 32-bit apps, you might get as little as 2 GB of virtual address space which in many cases isn't enough and can cause the app to stop responding or crash.

What happens if you run 32-bit app on 64-bit? ›

Most programs made for the 32-bit version of Windows will work on the 64-bit version of Windows except for most Antivirus programs. Device drivers that are made for the 32-bit version of Windows will not work correctly on a computer running a 64-bit version of Windows.

32-bit refers to a type of computer architecture where the processor and operating system can handle data in chunks of 32 bits at a time. This means that the computer can process data and perform calculations on numbers that are 32 bits long.

Apple removed 32-bit support because supporting that mode required manpower and resources which could have been reallocated elsewhere.

Background. For many years, Apple supported 32bit applications, either on native 32bit hardware, or on 64bit hardware alongside 64bit applications. The last version of macOS that supported the execution of 32bit applications was macOS 10.14 “Mojave”, and Apple dropped all support for this version in October 2021.

"The Steam store will stop considering games that offer only 32-bit macOS binaries to be Mac compatible at the end of 2023." Steam will halt support for macOS 10.13 and 10.14 (better known as High Sierra and Mojave) on February 15, 2024.

32-bit processors and 32-bit operating systems were used in all computers (Mac & PC) until the early 1990s. The software that ran on these computers was also 32-bit. In 2006 and 2007, Apple transitioned from the PowerPC hardware to Intel hardware using 64-bit processors.

If you are running macOS 10.15 Catalina or newer you will be able to buy and play Mac applications that are 64-bit only. What is happening with 32-bit Mac apps? Apple ended support for 32-bit Mac applications with their release of macOS Catalina 10.15. See their support article here.

iOS 10 is the final version of iOS that supports 32-bit devices, including the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, and the fourth-generation iPad, as its successor, iOS 11, drops support for those models. iOS 10 is also the final iOS version to support 32-bit applications.

All Apple silicon chips use 64-bit architecture.