The 8086 ("eighty eighty-six", also called iAPX 86) is a 16-bit microprocessor chip designed by Intel between early 1976 and mid-1978, when it was released. The Intel 8088, released in 1979, was a slightly modified chip with an external 8-bit data bus (allowing the use of cheaper and fewer supporting ICs), and is notable as the processor used in the original IBM PC design, including the widespread version called IBM PC XT.