MOS Technology 6502
Sign in to saveAlso known as 6502 (microprocessor), MOS 6502, 6502, MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor), Rockwell 6502 microprocessor, 6502 microprocessor
8-bit microprocessor
Key facts
- Launched
- 1975 ; 51 years ago ( 1975 )
- Common manufacturer
- MOS Technology , Rockwell , Synertek
- Max cpu clock rate
- 1 MHz to 3 MHz
- Data width
- 8 bits
- Address width
- 16 bits
- Transistors
- 3,510, 3,218
- Package
- 40-pin DIP
- Instruction set
- MOS 6502
- Number of instructions
- 56 (55 originally)
- Predecessors
- Motorola 6800 MOS 6501
- Successors
- MOS 6510 WDC 65C02 WDC 65C816
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- MOS 6502AD 4585 top.jpg
Show 5 more facts
- Commons category
- 6502 microprocessor
- clock frequency
- 1.5
- data size
- 8
- commercialization date
- 1975-09-00
- start time
- 1975-00-00
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Article
The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by a small team led by Chuck Peddle for MOS Technology and was launched in September 1975. 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 using depletion-load NMOS technology that made using the microchip in computers much cheaper.
When it was introduced, the 6502 was the least expensive microprocessor on the market by a considerable margin. It initially sold for less than one-sixth the cost of competing designs from larger companies, such as the 6800 or Intel 8080. Its introduction caused rapid decreases in pricing across the entire processor market. Along with the Zilog Z80, it sparked a series of projects that resulted in the home computer revolution of the early 1980s.