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About how many transistors were on Intel's first microprocessor, the 4-bit 4004 from 1971?

About 2,300.

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  1. About 2,300 ✔
  2. About 230,000
  3. About 23 million

Why: Federico Faggin's team fit the 4004's roughly 2,300 transistors into a low-cost 16-pin package. It put a whole CPU on one chip for the first time at Intel.

Huh, didn't know that: The 4004 was designed for a Japanese calculator company, Busicom.

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The 4004 had 2,300 transistors. My phone has more than that in its emoji keyboard.
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References

Answer: About 2,300. Federico Faggin's team fit the 4004's roughly 2,300 transistors into a low-cost 16-pin package. It put a whole CPU on one chip for the first time at Intel.

  1. Computer History Museum, 1971: Microprocessor Integrates CPU Function onto a Single Chip www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/microprocessor-integrates-cpu-function-onto-a-single-chip
    to squeeze the 2300 transistors of the 4004 into a low-cost 16-pin package.
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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