Does my key fob have more computing power than the Lunar lander?
16 comments
·December 13, 2025theamk
antihero
That said, the lunar lander still leads the keyfob in peripherals.
y7
I guess even a disposable vape has more computing power than the Lunar lander. (I don't know if that's more or less ridiculous than a key fob, but at least a key is not so disposable.)
1970-01-01
Isn't the real challenge finding anything made today that has less compute power than the lander? I challenge you to find that.
jerf
You can still find things like an Arduino Micro that has less ROM & RAM than the lunar lander.
But finding something new slower than a 2MHz CPU is probably a challenge nowadays; even the Micro is 16MHz and can probably be overclocked a ways above that without much work or risk.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AFY2S56 - not that that is necessarily the best way to buy such a system, just showing they exist.
coupdejarnac
Low cost ARM M series microcontrollers are ubiquitous, and they're all immensely more powerful than the lunar lander computer.
jammcq
Does my key fob have more computing power than the Lunar Lander? In this episode of Runtime Arguments that just dropped today, Wolf and I dive into that question and we reveal some information that might surprise you. We had a lot of fun doing the research and we hope you enjoy it. Find it wherever you get your podcasts. And, if you enjoy it, please tell all of your friends. We'd really appreciate it.
slicktux
I will give it a listen! :)
asplake
How long until we can ask that question of USB cables?
aitchnyu
You are more than 5 years late.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a30916315/usb-c-...
PunchyHamster
There are ones that do, they are just... the naughty kind
Pwntastic
needs a [podcast] tag.
there's no useful text content on this page
TL/DL: yes, it does, and by significant amount
Key fob has nRF52840l, 64 MHz ARM, 1024 KB Flash, 256 KB RAM
Apollo Guidance Computer was 2MHz, ~72 KB ROM, ~4 KB RAM
The comparison might be up to 10x different due to more efficient architecture and different MIPS/MHz ratio, but it does not change much, since the differences are so dramatic.
(This is based on links in the podcast description, which I assume what they talked about. Those pretty new keyfobs, older ones might have something like nRF24LE01, which is only 16 MHz, 18 KB Flash, 1KB RAM)