# MOS Technology 7501

> central processing unit

**Wikidata**: [Q28936810](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28936810)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/mos-technology-7501

## Summary
The MOS Technology 7501 is a microprocessor—a complete central processing unit fabricated on a single integrated-circuit chip—produced by MOS Technology. It belongs to the same processor family that powered several 1980s home computers and is catalogued alongside the closely related 8501 variant in Wikimedia Commons.

## Key Facts
- **Classified as**: microprocessor (sub-class of integrated-circuit computer processors)
- **Manufacturer**: MOS Technology
- **Wikidata sitelinks**: 3 (across Commons, German, and Italian Wikipedias)
- **Commons category**: MOS Technology 7501/8501 (shared media folder)
- **Google Knowledge Graph ID**: /g/124xwcx_y
- **Core function**: central processing unit for microcomputer systems

## FAQs
### Q: What kind of device is the MOS Technology 7501?
A: It is a single-chip microprocessor that functions as the CPU in a microcomputer, executing instructions and managing system tasks.

### Q: Who made the 7501?
A: The chip was manufactured by MOS Technology, the same semiconductor company that created the popular 6502 processor.

### Q: Is the 7501 related to any other processors?
A: Yes. Wikimedia Commons groups it with the 8501 under one category, indicating shared design lineage or pin-compatibility.

### Q: Where can I find public documentation or images?
A: Wikimedia Commons hosts a dedicated "MOS Technology 7501/8501" category containing freely licensed photos and datasheets.

## Why It Matters
The 7501 represents a late-evolution step in MOS Technology's 8-bit processor line, offering designers a drop-in or closely related alternative to the venerable 6502. While not as famous as its predecessor, the 7501's existence shows how semiconductor companies incrementally refined proven architectures to meet cost, speed, or supply-chain goals during the early home-computer boom. Collectors and retro-computer restorers value the chip because it often appears in European-market Commodore machines; having a concise, well-catalogued reference (illustrated by Wikimedia's shared media category) helps preserve hardware history. For engineers studying 1980s IC design, the 7501 is another data point demonstrating how single-chip CPUs rapidly became commodities, spawning multiple vendor variants that still maintained software compatibility.

## Notable For
- Grouped with the 8501 in a single Commons media category, signalling strong architectural or physical similarity
- One of the last 8-bit CPUs produced by MOS Technology before Commodore's business shifts
- Maintains the company's tradition of 40-pin DIP packaging visible in Commons photos
- Serves as a marker of late-1980s cost-reduced CPU iterations that extended the life of 6502-based computer ecosystems

## Body
### Classification and Position
The 7501 is catalogued inside Wikidata as a microprocessor, itself a sub-class of integrated-circuit computer processors. This places the device at the tail end of the 8-bit microprocessor generation, which consolidated an entire CPU onto one silicon die.

### Manufacturer Context
MOS Technology introduced the 6502 in 1975 and quickly followed with incremental variants. The 7501 continues that roadmap, produced on the same MOS fab lines that supplied chips for Commodore's computers.

### Documentation and Public References
Publicly available information is sparse but consistent: three Wikimedia projects link to the 7501, and a shared Commons category unites it with the 8501. Images in that category show a standard 40-pin ceramic or plastic DIP package typical of late-1970s/early-1980s CPUs.