Meet the Megaprocessor
This giant 16-bit processor aims to reveal the side of computers you can’t normally see
How a giant processor can help explain complicated computer operations.
Apple’s strength has always been making its computers easy to understand… but only in one sense of the word. They’re easy to use, but as they’ve become smaller and lighter, the way they work has become more sealed off and impenetrable. Take Apple’s A10 chip at the heart of the iPhone, for example; very few people know this processor’s exact details, and unlike programming, you can’t just tinker around to learn, or join many easy learning courses to get started.
But we need people to have these skills and knowledge, and we need more people to become interested in the future. That’s where the Megaprocessor comes in. Like a microprocessor, it’s made up of transistors, which are built into certain modules so that they’re capable of processing logic and running programs. However, while the transistors in a Mac or iPhone’s chip are microscopic, the ones in the Megaprocessor are about the size of a small paperclip. The 16-bit processor is built over several “boards,” with a total area of around 193 square feet, and includes roughly 40,000 transistors. For comparison, Apple’s A10 processor includes around 3.3 billion transistors in an area of 0.19 square inches…
So, it’s more like the Motorola 68000 chip used in the original Macintosh than the Intel chips of the iMac, but power isn’t the goal. The Megaprocessor includes around 10,000 LEDs built into its modules too, with the idea being that you can almost literally see the movement of data through its structure, making it much easier to understand how these vital parts of our computers operate. It’s fairly slow and inefficient – even given its size and unusual design – but the education potential is huge… as is its nostalgia value, if you’re anything like us and spent time in mainframe rooms.
The Microprocessor has recently been moved to a new home at the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge, in the UK, but you can see it working in various videos, linked from megaprocessor.com. Most importantly, though, you can write your own programs for it: the site has an assembler and simulator available. The creators have posted videos of it running people’s programs on their YouTube channel, and the next could be yours!