page_title: Microprocessor chronology
hierarchical_section_title: Microprocessor chronology
context_page_description: The first microprocessors were designed and manufactured in the 1970s. Designers predominantly used MOSFET transistors with pMOS logic in the early 1970s, and then predominantly used NMOS logic from the mid-1970s. They also experimented with various word lengths. Early on, 4-bit processors were common. Later in the decade, 8-bit processors such as the MOS 6502 superseded the 4-bit chips. 16-bit processors emerged by the decade's end. Some unusual word lengths were tried, including 12-bit and 20-bit. Intel's 4004 is widely regarded as the first-ever commercial microprocessor.
caption: Progress of miniaturisation, and comparison of sizes of semiconductor manufacturing process nodes with some microscopic objects and visible light wavelengths.