THE 65832 the 32-bit 6502 that never shipped — the permutation that stalled
There was meant to be a next step. The 65832 was WDC’s design for a 32-bit extension of the 65816 — the same permutation once more, 16→32, a wider accumulator behind the mode bits, the whole 6502 family still underneath. It was designed but never mass-produced. Where x86 and ARM carried the widening to 32 and 64 bits and to the whole industry, the 6502 line stopped at 16 for volume silicon — the 65816 lives on in embedded and hobbyist machines, but the 65832 stayed on paper. This dart is the honest answer to “did it permutate past the SNES?”: it was drawn, and it stalled.
THE TECHNIQUE 8(6502)→16(65816)→32(65832, designed, unshipped)
The demo shows the intended width doubling — masking one value at 8, 16, and the 65832’s 32 bits: live demo
HISTORY & CREDIT WDC 65832 · designed, never mass-produced
“The 6502 line ended at the 65816.” — a 32-bit 65832 was designed; it simply never reached volume production. cited
the plan · the 65832 — a 32-bit accumulator over the 65816, the same permutation once more. the stall · designed, never mass-produced — the 6502 line stopped at 16-bit for volume. the contrast · x86 (to 64) and ARM (to 64) carried the pattern on; the 65816 did not.
A drawn-but-unbuilt 32-bit step — the permutation that stalled where its rivals ran on. stalled
RECOMMEND FOR I-13 the intended doubling, on the compiler
On the canonical compiler, masking 0x12345678 at 8, 16, and 32 bits shows the 6502→65816→65832 widths:
$ i13 run ln_65832.i13 # width doubling 8->16->32
RUN OK · 62 step(s) · peak stack 3 · call depth 1
a8 = 120 -- 6502 (8-bit)
a16 = 22136 -- 65816 (16-bit)
a32 = 305419896 -- 65832 (32-bit, designed but unshipped)
doubling = 1
Recommend as a NULL — and the batch’s honest center. The 65832 is the same width permutation (B44) one step further; grounding it is masking at 32 bits. No new invariant. Its worth is the truthful answer to David’s question: in the 6502 line the permutation stalled — the 65832 was designed and never shipped — while x86 and ARM carried it to 64. NULL, with the honest verdict attached.