Intel 8088 processor from first IBM PC is 35 years old

The processor from the first IBM PC that came on the market in the early 1980s, the Intel 8088, is 35 years old. The 16-bit CPU was a downgrade from its predecessor 8086 and, thanks to the popularity of the IBM PC, marked the beginning of the dominance of Intel CPUs in desktops.

It’s unclear whether Intel actually unveiled the 8088 on July 1, 1979, or if it was in fact an announcement a month earlier, as many sources state. The 8088 cost around $124 upon release and for IBM, which wanted to work with Intel and also opted for a 16-bit processor at Microsoft’s request, that became the choice for the first IBM PC from 1981.

Because the first IBM PC ran on this Intel 8088 processor, many clones also started using this processor in order to be compatible with the IBM version. Thus began a long history of dominance of Intel processors in desktops and laptops running Microsoft’s operating systems. That dominance continues to this day.

The Intel 8088 ran maximum at 5MHz, but Intel used a clock speed of 4.77MHz. Later versions of the 8088 were capable of up to 10MHz. The processor has been in production for over ten years.