MIMMS MUSEUMDIGITAL ARCHIVE
Home › Catalog › Personal Computers
Personal Computers

Commodore 128

The last 8-bit home computer from Commodore, introduced in January 1985 with 128 KB of RAM.

Commodore Business Machines introduced the Commodore 128 in January 1985 at the CES in Las Vegas. It appeared three years after the Commodore 64. About 2.5 million were sold during its four-year production run.

It was a much expanded successor to the C64 with nearly full compatibility. It had 128 KB of RAM, a numeric keypad, a separate graphics chip for 80-column color video, and a Zilog Z80 processor that could run CP/M.

Why it matters

The C128 could use both the CP/M software library and the C64's library. That gave it one of the broadest ranges of software among its competitors. Bil Herd was the primary hardware designer.

Key facts

  • Introduced January 1985 at the CES.
  • Last 8-bit home computer from Commodore.
  • About 2.5 million sold in four years.
  • 128 KB of RAM in two 64 KB banks.
  • Could run CP/M using a Zilog Z80.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, "Commodore 128", en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_128, accessed October 14, 2026.
  2. Wikipedia, "Commodore International", en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_International, background reading, accessed October 14, 2026.