In a previous post I explained how to detect if an app runs in a 32-bit or 64-bit iOS Simulator. It was not explaining how to detect if an iOS app runs on a 32-bit or 64-bit iOS device. This post aims at giving a generic method that can detect all cases:

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  • 32-bit application running in a 32-bit iOS Simulator
  • 32-bit application running in a 64-bit iOS Simulator
  • 64-bit application running in a 64-bit iOS Simulator
  • 32-bit application running in a 32-bit iOS device
  • 32-bit application running in a 64-bit iOS device
  • 64-bit application running in a 64-bit iOS device

Below is the method is64bitHardware. It returns YES if the hardware is a 64-bit hardware and works on a real iOS device and in an iOS Simulator.

When running in an iOS Simulator, it uses the function is64bitSimulator() from my previous post https://blog.timac.org/2013/1001-detecting-if-an-app-runs-in-a-32-bit-or-64-bit-ios-simulator.

When running on a real iOS device, it asks the kernel for the host info.

#include <mach/mach.h>
 
+ (BOOL) is64bitHardware
{
#if __LP64__
    // The app has been compiled for 64-bit intel and runs as 64-bit intel
    return YES;
#endif
     
    // Use some static variables to avoid performing the tasks several times.
    static BOOL sHardwareChecked = NO;
    static BOOL sIs64bitHardware = NO;
     
    if(!sHardwareChecked)
    {
        sHardwareChecked = YES;
     
#if TARGET_IPHONE_SIMULATOR
        // The app was compiled as 32-bit for the iOS Simulator.
        // We check if the Simulator is a 32-bit or 64-bit simulator using the function is64bitSimulator()
        // See https://blog.timac.org/2013/1001-detecting-if-an-app-runs-in-a-32-bit-or-64-bit-ios-simulator
        sIs64bitHardware = is64bitSimulator();
#else
        // The app runs on a real iOS device: ask the kernel for the host info.
        struct host_basic_info host_basic_info;
        unsigned int count;
        kern_return_t returnValue = host_info(mach_host_self(), HOST_BASIC_INFO, (host_info_t)(&host_basic_info), &count);
        if(returnValue != KERN_SUCCESS)
        {
            sIs64bitHardware = NO;
        }
         
        sIs64bitHardware = (host_basic_info.cpu_type == CPU_TYPE_ARM64);
 
#endif // TARGET_IPHONE_SIMULATOR
    }
 
    return sIs64bitHardware;
}