The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by a small team led by Chuck Peddle for MOS Technology. The design team had formerly worked at Motorola on the Motorola 6800 project; the 6502 is essentially a simplified, less expensive and faster version of that design.
A MOS Technology 6502 processor in a DIP-40 plastic package. The four-digit date code indicates it was made in the 45th week (November) of 1985.
Motorola 6800 demonstration board built by Chuck Peddle and John Buchanan in 1974
A 1973 MOS Technology advertisement highlighting their custom integrated circuit capabilities
MOS Technology MCS6501, in white ceramic package, made in late August 1975
A microprocessor is a computer processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circuitry required to perform the functions of a computer's central processing unit (CPU). The IC is capable of interpreting and executing program instructions and performing arithmetic operations. The microprocessor is a multipurpose, clock-driven, register-based, digital integrated circuit that accepts binary data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as output. Microprocessors contain both combinational logic and sequential digital logic, and operate on numbers and symbols represented in the binary number system.
Texas Instruments TMS1000
Intel 4004
Motorola 6800 (MC6800)
A modern 64-bit x86-64 processor (AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7970X, based on Zen 4, 2023)