Apple's new 64-bit iOS 7 and A7 processor found in the iPhone 5s apparently have a few bugs that still need to be ironed out, as a new study reveals that applications are twice as likely to crash on the iPhone 5s than they are on the 32-bit iPhone 5.
The data collected by Crittercism, and shared on Friday by AllThingsD, reveals that applications running on the iPhone 5s have a crash rate of about 2 percent. In contrast, last year's iPhone 5 and this year's iPhone 5c, which run the same CPU and 32-bit version of iOS 7, see an application crash rate of just under 1 percent.
A representative for Crittercism suggests that crashes are more likely to occur on the iPhone 5s because developers were unable to check compatibility with the latest iPhone and its new 64-bit A7 processor ahead of its launch. Testing for iOS 7 on 32-bit chips has been possible since the first beta was released at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Despite lingering issues, the bug tracking company said Apple has still done a good job of transitioning to a new 64-bit version of its mobile operating system in a way that is largely seamless to end users. Such problems are inevitable with the release of any new hardware or software, they said.
The data on iPhone 5s crashes comes as some users have reported seeing Windows-style "Blue Screen of Death" reboots on Apple's latest handset. The issue seems to be triggered by using the multitasking feature of iOS 7, which can be accessed by double-tapping the home button.
Apple has already released two minor updates for iOS 7 to address bugs. The first was a day-one update available for new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c buyers, while iOS 7.0.2 arrived in late September to fix a lockscreen passcode bug.
The company has promised to soon release another update to iOS 7 to address issues with its iMessage service, as well as iPad supervision profiles. Apple is said to have provided select partners with an early version of iOS 7.0.3 earlier this month.