In computer architecture, 48-bit integers can represent 281,474,976,710,656 (248 or 2.814749767×1014) discrete values.
48-bit can refer to any other data unit that consumes 48 bits (6 octets) in width.
Computers with 48-bit words include the AN/FSQ-32, CDC 1604/upper-3000 series, BESM-6, Ferranti Atlas, Philco TRANSAC S-2000 and Burroughs large systems.
the MANIAC II, the MANIAC III, the Brookhaven National Laboratory Merlin,[1] the Philco CXPQ, the Ferranti Orion, the Telefunken Rechner TR 440, the ICT 1301, and many other early transistor-based and vacuum tube computers[2] used 48-bit words.
The minimal implementation of the x86-64 architecture provides 48-bit addressing encoded into 64 bits; future versions of the architecture can expand this without breaking properly written applications.