Zilog Ends 48 Year Run of Classic Microprocessor ▉

Benj Edwards at Ars Technica:

Last week, chip manufacturer Zilog announced that after 48 years on the market, its line of standalone DIP (dual inline package) Z80 CPUs is coming to an end, ceasing sales on June 14, 2024. The 8-bit Z80 architecture debuted in 1976 and powered a small-business-PC revolution in conjunction with CP/M, also serving as the heart of the Nintendo Game Boy, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, the Radio Shack TRS-80, the Pac-Man arcade game, and the TI-83 graphing calculator in various forms.

In a letter to customers dated April 15, 2024, Zilog wrote, “Please be advised that our Wafer Foundry Manufacturer will be discontinuing support for the Z80 product and other product lines. Refer to the attached list of the Z84C00 Z80 products affected.”

Designers typically use the Z84C00 chips because of familiarity with the Z80 architecture or to allow legacy system upgrades without needing significant system redesigns. And while many other embedded chip architectures have superseded these Z80 chips in speed, processing power, and capability, they remained go-to solutions for decades in products that didn’t need any extra horsepower.

Being in gaming and general tech circles these days you’d think chips were often made only for a short period and then the industry moves on. That’s simply not true and it’s easy to forget that chips like these still get made. I graduated college in 2018 and took a literal ton of math classes, as one does, while getting my Comp Sci degree. Let me tell you, that TI-83 calculator is till very much alive and well. I also still drop a quarter or two into a Pac-Man game anytime is see one.

It’s always interesting to me when one of these articles about older chips like this comes up. I never knew what was in the things I used growing up and without articles like this I’d probably never know. I just knew it worked.

The 8-bit Z80 microprocessor was designed in 1974 by Federico Faggin as a binary-compatible, improved version of the Intel 8080 with a higher clock speed, a built-in DRAM refresh controller, and an extended instruction set. It was extensively used in desktop computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, arcade video game machines, and embedded systems, and it became a cornerstone of several gaming consoles, like the Sega Master System.

It’s crazy to think that a chip designed in 1974 (!) and that’s older than me powered so much for so long.

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