NASA Mars Perseverance Rover uses the same PowerPC chipset found in the 1998 G3 iMac

NASA’s Perseverance rover, which recently made history while landing on the surface of Mars, is powered by the same processor used in an iMac over 23 years old.

As reported by NewScientist (through Gizmodo), the Rover includes the PowerPC 750 processor, the same chip used in the G3 ‌iMac‌ in 1998.

The main chipset is the same; however, there are differences between the version of the processor that comes in a consumer computer and the one that explores space. The processor in the rover is built to withstand temperatures between -67 and 257 degrees Fahrenheit (-55 and 125 degrees Celsius) and comes with an additional $ 200,000 price tag.

The PowerPC 750 processor was ahead of the game for that time, with a single-core, 233 MHz processor, 6 million transistors (compared to the current 16 billion in a single chip) and based on 32-bit architecture.

Apple used PowerPC chips in Mac computers until it switched to Intel in 2005. Right now, Apple is going through a similar change away from Intel to implement its own custom Apple silicon in Macs.