Commodore today officially announced the launch of the C64C Ultimate, a new version of its acclaimed Commodore 64 Ultimate released in 2025. The new model changes the appearance of the fuselage from the classic "bread-bin" shape of 1982 to the slimmer C64C fuselage design introduced in 1986.
The biggest highlight of this product is the casing manufacturing process: Commodore successfully recovered and repurchased the original injection mold used to produce the C64C plastic casing, bringing the industrial heritage of the 1980s directly back to the modern production line.
This set of molds itself has a rather legendary circulation experience. It was first put into use in Japan, then moved to Commodore's factories in Pennsylvania and Dallas, where it was discovered at an auction in 2014, survived a factory fire, and ended up in the hands of Individual Computers. At present, Commodore has completely bought back this set of molds from IComp.de and is re-opening the molds for mass production based on this.
Due to the use of original tooling, the new machine's casing retains the subtle "flow marks" that existed during the mass production period in 1986. These traces come from the special flow patterns formed by the dual-point plastic cooling solution. They were originally unintentional products of craftsmanship, but are now regarded by Commodore as "authentic marks" to prove the purity of the bloodline, and have become part of the "age-sense" selling point of the product.
In terms of internal hardware architecture, C64C Ultimate remains consistent with the existing "breadbox" version. It is still based on FPGA to achieve cycle-level accurate simulation of the Commodore 64. It also comes with pre-installed demo programs and game content, and comes with a spiral-bound user guide that covers complete introductory information from basic operations to BASIC programming. The Commodore plans to offer three different versions, all of which are now available for pre-order, with shipments expected to begin in late 2026.
The standard version of BASIC Beige is priced at $299.99 and comes in a classic beige body color, which corresponds to the appearance route closest to the traditional C64C. Starlight Edition is priced at US$349.99. It is equipped with a translucent shell and dynamic LED lighting effects that can change with the game, which is more in line with the visual preferences of modern gamers and collectors. Positioned as a top collection, the Founder's Edition is priced at US$499.99. It uses gold-plated keycaps made of PVD technology, a 24K gold-plated nameplate, and a translucent white chassis, pushing the retro sentiment and high-end display attributes to the extreme.
Commodore said that the C64C Ultimate is only the first step in its new product plan for 2026. More new products will be announced this year and it will continue to expand the product line around the combination of retro and modern technology.