Intel iAPX 432

The iAPX 432 (Intel Advanced Performance Architecture) is a discontinued computer architecture introduced in 1981. It was Intel's first 32-bit processor design.

Design began in 1975 as the 8800 (after the 8008 and the 8080), a clean-sheet design that did not have to follow previous machine code conventions. Intel intended that the 432 would be the basis of their future offerings in the microcomputer market, replacing the older designs that had been more ad hoc solutions. The first implementation was too advanced for the semiconductor fabrication techniques of the era, and had to be implemented on two separate integrated circuits. This made it expensive to use. Combined with high prices and very low performance, the 432 ended up seeing little use. It is considered a commercial failure for Intel, and was discontinued in 1986.

The loss of sales of existing designs due to the introduction of the compatible Zilog Z80 led to a 1977 effort to introduce a stop-gap solution while the 432 matured. This emerged as the 8086, which went on to form the basis of Intel processors to this day. Although some early 8086, 80186 and 80286-based systems and manuals also used the iAPX prefix for marketing reasons, the iAPX 432 and the 8086 processor lines are completely separate designs with completely different instruction sets.