# The most influential microprocessors of all time

From the Intel 4004, the first commercial microprocessor, to the 6502 in the Apple II, the Z80 in the Game Boy, the ARM chips in every phone and Apple's M1: the CPUs that shaped computing. Which one mattered most?

- 66 votes · 13 items
- Jul 16, 2022 · Jack Taylor
- https://even.best/en/l/2900/the-most-influential-microprocessors-of-all-time

## Top 13

1. **Intel 8080 (1974)** (7 · ▲9 ▼2) — The chip inside the Altair 8800.
2. **Intel 4004 (1971)** (6 · ▲7 ▼1) — The first commercially available microprocessor.
3. **MOS Technology 6502 (1975)** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — Cheap and capable; Wozniak chose it for the Apple II.
4. **Motorola 68000 (1979)** (4 · ▲5 ▼1) — Used in the Mac, the Amiga and UNIX workstations.
5. **RCA CDP1802 (1976)** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — One of the first microprocessors to fly in space.
6. **Intel 8088 (1979)** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — The heart of the IBM PC 5150.
7. **Intel Pentium (1993)** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — The processor that became a brand and a status symbol.
8. **AMD Opteron (2003)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — The dawn of 64-bit x86 computing.
9. **Zilog Z80 (1976)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — An improved 8080 clone that ended up in the Game Boy.
10. **Acorn ARM2 (1986)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — The origin of the ARM architecture found in phones today.
11. **PowerPC 601 (1992)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — The Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance against Intel.
12. **Apple M1 (2020)** (1 · ▲3 ▼2) — Proved ARM could beat x86 in laptops while using far less power.
13. **Intel 8086 (1978)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — The birth of the x86 architecture.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.