The calculator ran 60-90 times faster on most benchmark operations.
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HP also released a software development kit (SDK), making it possible to make new and custom operating systems. This has brought advanced possibilities such as flashing new firmware, not previously possible. In 2008, HP modified the design to use an Atmel AT91SAM7L128 processor with ARM7TDMI core running a software emulator of the previous Nut processor, written by Cyrille de Brébisson, in order to execute an image of the former Nut-based firmware in it. In the late 1990s, the CPU was changed to a 3 V process ( Agilent 2AF1-0001, later a Marvell 2AF1-0002 ) and the battery was therefore changed to a single CR2032 cell replacing the three LR44 cells previously used (F1637A). However, HP's market research found in the late 1980s that the users did not trust results obtained too quickly and so the CPU speed was never improved from the original 884 kHz, but the speed could be increased by a user modification. Over its lifespan, the proprietary silicon on sapphire HP Nut (originally the 1LF5, then 1LM2) processor's technology has been redesigned to integrate all the circuitry into a single chip (first the 1LQ9, then 1RR2) and to refresh the manufacturing process (as the foundry could no longer manufacture the necessary chips, having moved on to making higher-density chips). There were at least eight hardware revisions of the HP-12C since 1981 (including one special issue). There are 99 lines of programmable memory on the HP-12C. After the programing is complete, the macro will run in the computation mode to save the user steps and improve accuracy. Basically, the keys one would press in the calculating mode to arrive at a solution are entered in the programing mode along with logical operators (if, and, etc.) if applicable to the solution. The HP-12C's programing mode is very intuitive and works like a macro operation on a computer. Later HP financial calculators are many times as fast with more functions, but none has been as successful. The 1977 October edition of the HP Journal contains an article by Roy Martin, the inventor of the simple method of operation used in HP financial calculators, which describes, in detail, the mathematics and functionality built by William Kahan (from UC Berkeley) and Roy Martin that is still in use today. Its popularity has endured despite the fact that even a relatively simple, but iterative, process such as amortizing the interest over the life of a loan – a calculation which modern spreadsheets can complete almost instantly – can take over a minute with the HP-12C. Due to its simple operation for key financial calculations, the calculator long ago became the de facto standard among financial professionals. The HP-12C is HP's longest and best-selling product, in continual production since its introduction in 1981.
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