We recently noted that NXP expanded its MCX A series with the MCX A5 Cortex-M33 family, integrating 10BASE-T1S Single Pair Ethernet, topology discovery, and PQC for industrial connectivity. However, it’s not the only recent announcement from the company, as NXP also expanded the lower-cost MCX C series with the MCX C15 and MCX C16 (C1 family) Cortex-M23 MCUs designed for industrial IoT and analog applications. The new C1 family provides a straightforward migration path from LPC800, LPC1100, and Kinetis MCUs, with full pin-to-pin compatibility with the newer MCX A Series.
These low-cost entry-level devices feature a 16-bit SAR ADC, a high-speed comparator with DAC, an internal OpAmp, and FlexPWM for motor and power control. They also include up to 64 KB of flash, 12 KB of SRAM, LPI²C, LPSPI, up to four UARTs, up to 45 GPIOs, multiple timers, a low-power timer, an RTC, and a watchdog, with an operating range of 1.71 to 3.6 V and -40°C to 125°C. The MCX C15 and C14 MCUs are suitable for industrial IoT devices, sensing and instrumentation, motor drives, power management, HVAC systems, smart appliances, lighting, and other cost-sensitive embedded applications.
NXP MCX C15 and MCX C16 series specifications:
CPU Core
Arm Cortex-M23 processor running at 72 MHz (MCX C16) or 48 MHz (MCX C15)
Achieves 153 CoreMark, operating at 2.13 CoreMark/MHz.
Memory
12 KB (MCX C16) or 6 KB (MCX C15) SRAM
Full SRAM retention is supported down to Deep Power Down mode
DMA (Direct Memory Access) controller
Storage
64 KB (MCXC162) or 32 KB (MCXC151, MCXC161) of single-bank program flash memory
16 KB of dedicated data flash memory
Flash memory features Error Correction Code (ECC) supporting single-bit correction and two-bit detection
Integrated on-chip ROM bootloader
Peripherals
GPIO – Up to 45x GPIO pins
Single-Cycle I/O port access for fast pin toggling
Includes up to four 20 mA high-drive I/Os
50 MHz I/O support on specific pins (P1_0, P1_1, and P1_2)
Total GPIO count depends strictly on the package size: 43-45 GPIOs (48-pin packages), 29 GPIOs (32-pin packages), 23 GPIOs (24-pin packages), or 15 GPIOs (16-pin packages)
Low-speed I/Os
1x low-power I²C (LPI²C)
1x low-power SPI (LPSPI)
3x (MCX C15) or 4x (MCX C16) LPUART interfaces
Analog peripherals
1x FlexPWM module with three sub-modules to provide six complementary PWM outputs
16-bit successive approximation register (SAR) ADC supporting up to 18 channels; 2.4 MSPS in 16-bit mode and 3 MSPS in 12-bit mode ADC speeds
1x high-speed comparator (CMP) utilizing an internal 8-bit DAC reference
1x operational amplifier (OpAmp) equipped with programmable gain (PGA)
1x integrated temperature sensor
Clocks and Timers
Internal free-running oscillators at 144 MHz, 12 MHz, and 16 kHz
Up to 2x 32-bit standard general-purpose asynchronous timers/counters (CTimer)
1x Low-power timer, frequency measurement timer, real-time clock (RTC), and 2x windowed watchdog timers
External 32 kHz crystal oscillator (XTAL) support for the RTC and clock system
Debugging – SWD (Serial Wire Debug) support
Security
Device lifecycle management capabilities
Integrated True Random Number Generator (TRNG)
Implicit-protected Flash Region (IFR) access control
Hardware access control for both memory and debug interfaces
Misc – Power-On Reset (POR), Low-Voltage Detect (LVD), and High-Voltage Detect (HVD) monitoring
Power
Operating voltage – 1.7V to 3.6V
Consumption
Active mode current draw of 33 µA/MHz when executing from flash
Deep Sleep mode consumes 14 µA with a 15.89 µs wake-up time
Power Down mode consumes 2.91 μA with full SRAM retention and a 28.47 µs wake-up time
Deep Power Down mode consumes 320 nA with all SRAM off and a 301.06 µs wake-up time
Package options
48-pin LQFP (7 x 7 x 1.4 mm, 0.5 mm pitch)
48-pin H-PQFN (7 x 7 x 0.9 mm, 0.5 mm pitch)
32-pin H-PQFN (5 x 5 x 0.9 mm, 0.5 mm pitch)
24-pin and 16-pin H-PQFN options (slated for December 2026 availability)
Temperature range – -40°C to 125°C ambient operating temperature
MCX C15 series block diagram (Differences are marked in red)
MCX C15 series block diagram (Differences are marked in red)
For evaluation and to speed up development, the company offers the FRDM-MCXC162 development board, which features the 72 MHz MCX C162 MCU (64 KB Flash, 12 KB SRAM) alongside an on-board MCU-Link debugger (via USB Type-C), and plenty of I/Os exposed through Arduino, MikroBus, and PMOD headers.
The board also includes an on-board NXP P3T1755DP I3C/I2C digital temperature sensor (±0.5 °C accuracy), an RGB user LED, and dedicated buttons for reset, ISP, and wake-up. NXP notes this is the first FRDM platform to use FSC-certified responsible packaging.
NXP FRDM-MCXC162 development board for MCX C15xC16x MCUs
FRDM-MCXC162 development board block diagram
On the software side, the MCX C15 and C16 are fully supported by the MCUXpresso software and tools, which include the MCUXpresso SDK, IDE options (including a VS Code extension), and access to the Application Code Hub (ACH) for ready-to-use software examples.
We’ve previously written about other low-cost 32-bit MCU designed to replace 8-bit, 16-bit, and Cortex-M0+ designs, including STMicroelectronics’ STM32C0 family (48 MHz M0+, 12-bit ADC) and Renesas’ RA0E2 / RA2T1 Cortex-M23 MCUs. The new MCX C15 and C16 sit in the same industrial IoT/appliance class, but add a 16-bit SAR ADC, an on-chip OpAmp, a comparator with DAC, and FlexPWM for motor and power control.
The NXP MCX C15 and MCX C16 MCUs are currently available with an estimated 16-week lead time. There are a total of 15 SKUs available at the time of writing, with different memory, package, and GPIO configurations, but for reference, the MCXC151VFM (32 KB flash, 6KB SRAM, H-PQFN32 package) sells for under 60 cents in quantities, while the FRDM-MCXC162 development board goes for $15. More information is available on the product page and in the press release.
Debashis Das is a technical content writer and embedded engineer with over five years of experience in the industry. With expertise in Embedded C, PCB Design, and SEO optimization, he effectively blends difficult technical topics with clear communication
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