Starting In February 2015, All Apps Submitted To The App Store Need To Be 64 Bit

Apple has recently released iOS 8.1 to the public, But for developers something more comes with the update. As of February 1, 2015 Apple will require all App Store submissions to include 64 bit support and to be built with the iOS 8 SDK. If you've got an older iPhone or iPad with an Apple A5 or A6 chip in it this announcement means nothing to you. Like their OS X counterparts, 64 bit iOS apps can be distributed as universal binaries that support both 32 and 64 bit processors. Existing 32 bit apps will remain in the App Store. Only developers submitting new apps or updates to existing apps will need to comply with the new rules. If you have a 64 bit device, though, you may start to get significant performance boosts to your apps. Remember, for ARM processors the move to 64 bit isn't just about addressing more RAM 64-bit ARM chips come with a new ARMv8 instruction set that cleans up some of the cruft found in ARMv7. The benchmarks estimate that an Apple A7 can run 64-bit code up to 30 percent faster than it runs 32-bit code. An A8 can be as much as 40 percent faster. 64-bit chips now power a fairly large part of the iOS lineup. The Apple A7 can be found in the iPhone 5S, iPad Air, iPad Mini 2, and iPad Mini 3. The Apple A8 ships in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and a new more powerful A8X variant was introduced in the iPad Air 2. That's a pretty big pool of devices that can take advantage of ARMv8.This change will mostly benefit those using newer iPhones and iPads.