# MOS 6502

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/mos-6502/

23 people recommended MOS 6502 in Hacker News comments, 3 had mixed feelings and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 12 months, in 23 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended for a simple, minimal design that is easy to learn and joyful to program in assembly. Critics find it limiting, especially after writing Z80 code.

Summary written by Claude from 40 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 38 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Simple, minimal, easy to learn (6 comments in the sample): "the CPU is simple enough to quickly grasp all important concepts, and it is still available" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49304164)) "Simple architecture and really really joyful to use" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46100238)) "I was luck to learn asm on a very simple 8 bit CPU" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47288435))
- Historically important, long-lived chip (6 comments in the sample): "The through-line was the 6502, which retains a place in my heart even today." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46577002)) "it became legendary, and begat a computer revolution" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50150710)) "the 6502 existed in 1980 and showed the way" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49306037))
- Fun and joyful to program (2 comments in the sample): "Most fun I ever had with a 6502 was when I realized that, at 1 MHz, I could do 250,000 average instructions per second." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48091215)) "I find programming for the 6502 to be a joy in a way that the Z80 isn't" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48027314))

## What people warn about

- Limiting architecture compared to alternatives (1 comment in the sample): "on every other axis the 6502 sucked" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46102029))

## Other microprocessors people recommend

- [Zilog Z80](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zilog-z80/): 20 recommend, 0 mixed, 9 criticize
- [Motorola 68000](https://hackerapproved.com/p/motorola-68000/): 11 recommend, 6 mixed, 4 criticize
- [NEC V20](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nec-v20/): 6 recommend, 3 mixed, 0 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "MOS 6502", https://hackerapproved.com/p/mos-6502/ (23 recommend, 3 mixed, 5 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 3 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.