The state-of-the-art Perseverance rover features a 1998 iMac processor

Before Apple switched to Intel processors, it worked with Motorola and IBM to produce processors called PowerPCs, which brought the colorful iMac G3 to those who remember the '90s. As it turns out, these processors are still useful today.

A new report from New Scientist reveals that NASA's state-of-the-art rover Perseverance, which landed on Mars in February, uses a 233MHz single-core PowerPC 750 processor with just 6 million transistors, the same as its iBac "Bondi Blue" iMac 1998. In fact, it is the same processor that uses the Curiosity rover.

NASA prefers technologies that have been tested and proven to be worthwhile. Rovers on Mars are subject to much greater radiation than that reaching Earth, which can destroy the sensitive electronics of modern processors much more easily. The more complicated the chip, the more things can go wrong and being millions of miles away, a chip replacement is not possible.

This PowerPC 750 chip from Perseverance has been modified to withstand higher doses of radiation and actually costs over $ 200,000. And while it performs worse than a modern smartphone, it is much more powerful than older rovers such as Spirit or Opportunity.