Check if your Mac is 64 bit Compatible via Command Line
Sep 23, 2009 - 5 Comments
While geeking around I discovered another way to check if your Mac is 64 bit compatible by using the command line. Launch terminal and type “sysctl hw |grep 64bit”
Here’s me using the command on my MacBook which does not have a 64 bit processor:
$ sysctl hw |grep 64bit
hw.cpu64bit_capable: 0
on my friends newer MacBook Pro his results were:
$ sysctl hw |grep 64bit
hw.cpu64bit_capable: 1
meaning it is a 64 bit processor.
Thanks! It’s a useful note.
.
My Macbook is return result hw.cpu64bit_capable: 1. Nice
[...] Tip source: OSXDaily.com [...]
This only indicates whether your Mac is capable of running 64-bit applications. It says nothing about whether you can run Snow Leopard’s 64-bit kernel.
Instead of getting all of the hardware variables, and grepping for a specific variable, simply use sysctl to get that specific variable.
command:
sysctl hw.cpu64bit_capable
return:
hw.cpu64bit_capable: 1 (or 0 depending)
thank you so much