A first for smartphones, the iPhone 5S has an A7 processor under the hood that uses 64-bit architecture. Apple claims that the combo will deliver speed twice that of the A6 chip and vastly improved OpenGL ES 3.0-compatible graphics.
To those who wonder, what a 64-bit chip does, here is the explanation. A 64-bit chip allows for more powerful processing and a greater amount of power to be plugged through the phone for most tasks. It will tolerate a greater amount of RAM in the future too.
The A7 chip also makes more sophisticated and powerful apps--especially games – enjoyable. For instance, you'll be amazed to see the details in the Infinity Blade III, which has been optimized for the new chip, especially the realistic looking water and the detail in our hero's armor and nearby rocks. In addition, the A7 chip makes the camera app a lot zippier on the iPhone 5S and makes real-time previews, on-the-fly effects processing, autofocus, a lot more smoother.
A handful of 64-bit apps include apps from Autodesk (like Sketchbook Pro and Pixlr Express Plus), Smule's Sing! Karaoke, algoriddim's djay 2 and vjay and Gameloft's Total Conquest.
On Geekbench 3, which measures processor and memory performance, the 5s notched 2,556, which is nearly double the older iPhone 5's mark of 1,297. The 5S also beat most Android phones, including the HTC One (2,460) and Moto X (2,068),but the Galaxy S4 scored an even higher 3,177.
In 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited test, which gauges graphics performance, the iPhone 5S scored 13,795, second only to the Snapdragon 800-powered LG G2 (16,201). The Moto X, HTC One and Galaxy S4 all scored below 11,000.
