Computers with 48-bit words include CDC 1604 and BESM-6.

The IBM AS/400, in its CISC variants, is a 48-bit addressing system. The address size used in logical block addressing was increased to 48 bits with the introduction of ATA-6.

Images

In digital images, 48 bits per pixel, or 16 bits per each colour channel (red, green and blue), is used for accurate processing. Such images do not look much better than 24-bit images, but the existence of more shades between colours (65,536 as opposed to 256) means that more operations can be performed on the image without risk of noticeable banding or posterization.