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.