is my MacBookPro 64bit

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is my MacBookPro 64bit

hi quite simply is my MacBookPro a 64 bit computer ?, i firmly believe it is

BUT a friend of mine also has a MacBookPro and wants to use BootCamp to install Windows 7, i pointer her in the direction of Windows 7 64bit on a Web Site that sells Windows 7, but of course she says the 32bit version of Windows 7 is cheaper so why do i need the 64bit version ?, she says !!!!

I suppose the 32bit version would still work ok, and i suppose it would be a mite slower in operation ?.

I still think she should get the 64bit version. What please is the general opinion of the community.

@ http://www.oemworld.net

Thanks

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), iPad 2, iPhone 4S

Posted on Jan 29, 2013 9:45 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

leroydouglas

Community+ 2024

Level 10

183,582 points

Jan 29, 2013 9:59 AM in response to timmy toad

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3696

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Answer 2

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Jan 29, 2013 9:59 AM in response to timmy toad

timmy toad wrote:

BUT a friend of mine also has a MacBookPro and wants to use BootCamp to install Windows 7, i pointer her in the direction of Windows 7 64bit on a Web Site that sells Windows 7, but of course she says the 32bit version of Windows 7 is cheaper so why do i need the 64bit version ?, she says !!!!

Microsoft sells Windows 7 with both 32 and 64-bit DVDs, so there's no difference if she buys the retail version.

To see if your Mac is a 64-bit computer, open  > About this Mac, and look at "Processor". If it's an Intel Core 2 Duo, i3, i5 or i7, it's a 64-bit computer. If it's an Intel Core Solo or Intel Core Duo, it's a 32-bit computer. However, I'm pretty sure that you have a 64-bit computer, because you are running OS X Mountain Lion, and OS X Mountain Lion requires a 64-bit Mac.

To check if you can install a 64-bit Windows version on your Mac, see > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1846

If your Mac is compatible with a 64-bit Windows version, use the 64-bit version. It will be faster, it will use the hardware better than the 32-bit version and you will be able to run 32 and 64-bit applications

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Answer 3

Jan 29, 2013 10:07 AM in response to timmy toad

Even on a 64-bit computer (which yes, your MBP is 64-bit compatible), if you have 4GB or less of RAM, then the OS is basically immaterial. In a system with only 4GB of RAM, there is really no difference between a 32-bit OS or a 64-bit OS and in fact a 64-bit OS may be less optimal (setting up a 64-bit memory registers in a 4GB machine is just a waste of kernel resources).

The only real advantage of a 64-bit OS is the operating system's ability to take advantage of more than 4GB of RAM.

And even if the OS cannot use more than 4GB RAM, programs may well be able to - OS X supported 64-Bit programs long before the OS X kernel and other portions of the system were in fact 64-bit (even back in the days of the G5 powerpc, OS X was capable of assinging program memory space beyond 4GB, but the kernel itself was restricted to only 32-bit address space).

64-bit computing is not really about speed or performance - its about memory use and moving beyond the 4GB RAM limit.

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