this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2025
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retrocomputing

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The MP944 was the ‘real’ world’s first microprocessor, but it was top secret for nearly 30 years — F-14 Tomcat's chip lived in the shadow of the Intel 4004, but was eight times faster (www.tomshardware.com)
submitted 2 days ago by cm0002@libretechni.ca to c/retrocomputing@lemmy.sdf.org
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For a long time, what is now considered to be a prime candidate for the title of the ‘world’s first microprocessor’ was a very well-kept secret for nearly 30 years. The MP944 is the inauspicious name of the chip we want to highlight today. It was developed to be the brains behind the U.S. Navy’s F-14 Tomcat’s Central Air Data Computer (CADC). Thus, it isn’t surprising that the MP944 was a cut above the Intel 4004, the world’s first commercial microprocessor, which was designed to power a desktop calculator.

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[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

I thought NASA was well stocked with 486 CPUs? Quite a cut about the 386! (I know the ISS is not all NASA.) In any case, the wide wires make for less bit flipping. :)