The World’s Tiniest Microcontroller

A sneeze-inducing 1.38 mm² chip, small enough to make a Raspberry Pi look like a bus.

A microcontroller comparison (Image credit: Texas Instruments)

Introducing the Texas Instruments MSPM0C1104, touted as the world’s smallest microcontroller (MCU), measuring a mere 1.38 mm². This chip is designed for applications requiring minimal space, such as electronic toothbrushes and medical devices.

For context, the Broadcom BCM2712 chip found in the Raspberry Pi 5 occupies approximately 20 mm², meaning you could fit about 200 of these tiny microcontrollers in its package.

Despite its size, the chip includes:

• A fully operational Arm 32-bit Cortex-M0+ CPU core running at 24 MHz.
• 16 KB of flash memory.
• 1 KB of SRAM.

This places it on par with performance levels of an Intel 386 chip from 1985.

According to Texas Instruments, “Consumers are continuously demanding that everyday electronic items… offer more features in a smaller footprint at a lower cost.” The MSPM0C1104 meets this demand.

Pricing and Availability

You can purchase these microcontrollers for 20 cents each (when ordered in bulk of a thousand). A developer kit board is also available for $6, which includes a red LED and a user input button to experiment further.

Stay tuned for more updates in electronics as this chip begins to make waves in the industry.