# system-architecture > Get the operating system CPU architecture [`process.arch` / `os.arch()`](https://nodejs.org/api/process.html#processarch) is generally not useful as it returns the CPU architecture for which the Node.js binary was compiled, not the actual system architecture. For browser usage, you probably want [`is64bit`](https://github.com/sindresorhus/is64bit) instead. ## Install ```sh npm install system-architecture ``` ## Usage ```js import {systemArchitecture} from 'system-architecture'; // On ARM64 macOS console.log(await systemArchitecture()); //=> 'arm64' ``` ## API ### systemArchitecture() Returns a promise for a CPU architecture name. See [`process.arch`](https://nodejs.org/api/process.html#processarch) for possible values. ### systemArchitectureSync() Returns a CPU architecture name. See [`process.arch`](https://nodejs.org/api/process.html#processarch) for possible values. ## Note This should really be in Node.js core, but they are [not pragmatic](https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/17036). ## Related - [is64bit](https://github.com/sindresorhus/is64bit) - Check whether operating system CPU architecture is 64-bit or 32-bit