64 BIT vs 32 BIT

well..
I just wanted to know what the difference btw he 32 bit and 64 bit chips are..
Is it the just the speed??
Or is there anything else??
does it require less electricity>saving more battery life??
does it run cooler->the macbooks heat problem??
Or is it just vice versa..
Also will there be any change in the cost(particularly the macbook)??
thanks in advance,
-sathya

 

Basically it's the bits of info they can process at once.

The names say exactly what they do. 64 bit processes 64 bits, and 32 bits processes 32 bits, etc.

Not sure if there's much of a speed boost as I haven't worked with any 64 bit processors for much time, but it's basically the next gen of processors, but hardly any software supports it right now.

Change in cost as for Macbooks will be needing to have Core 2 Duo over Core Duo, which would raise the price, but I'm not sure how much, since I don't know Macs very well.

Anyways, that's as about as much as 64 bit is.

If I left any thing out, I'll let someone who knows more about 64 bit fill you in, or correct me.



Hope this helps.

 

Most probably there won't be price increases. Apple maintains a slim product line, it is highly unlikely they will keep both Core Duo and Core 2 Duo notebooks in their lineup. Intel is also selling the new CPUs at about the same price the Core Duo shipped.
As for benefits such as power comsumption, it depends really much more on the platform design as a whole than on the mere fact of the processor being 32/64bits. The most well-know benefit is the capacity for bigger memory addressing, which won't really be much helpful to notebook owners in the near future. Once we have 4GB SODIMM memory modules that might change. So, if the Macbook/Macbook Pro line would be updated today, using the same chipset, you wouldn't feel that much difference in most aspects except a slightly better performance. A big unknown is how much Leopard will make good use of 64bits technology, but Apple has a history of good support for their old machines so I daresay 32bit Leopard won't suck.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=45655
That guide should answer all your questions about 64 and 32 bit.