Second revision of LT6502 6502 laptop surfaces — slimmer, SID-enabled

A solo-maker project has quietly moved into round two. It has been reported that TechPaula’s LT6502, a handmade laptop built around the venerable MOS 6502 CPU, has a second, slimmer revision posted on Codeberg (https://codeberg.org/TechPaula/LT6502b). This is very much a work in progress, but the repository shows visible progress: screenshots, PCB photos and case renders — the kind of rough-and-ready documentation makers love.

Development snapshots

The project timeline in the repo lists several small but meaningful milestones: 2026-04-06 — Graphics test, 2026-04-05 — Text on screen, 2026-03-21 — PCB mid-assembly photo, and 2026-03-07 — case render in progress. These aren’t polished press releases. They’re incremental wins: text lighting up the display, basic graphics rendering, a board assembled by hand. Feels like watching a vintage computer being born again, one commit at a time.

Hardware changes and design choices

Key architectural changes are modest but interesting. The memory map was copied from the previous LT6502 design, but the expansion port has been removed in favor of adding a modem interface and a SID sound chip — yes, the legendary Commodore 64 audio chip. Why SID? Nostalgia, personality, and a killer low-power audio option for a retro laptop. It has been reported that the removal of the expansion port signals a tighter, more integrated build rather than a platform aimed at external addons.

This isn’t a product launch. It’s a hobbyist’s odyssey into 6502-era computing with modern maker tools. Follow the repo for updates if you want to watch the parts come together — or to get inspired to build your own. Who wouldn’t want a pocketable piece of retro silicon that can hum a SID tune?

Sources: codeberg.org/techpaula, Hacker News