Raspberry Pi has launched Raspberry Pi 4 and it is now on sale, starting at $35. This is a comprehensive upgrade, touching almost every element of the platform. For the first time they provide a PC-like level of performance for most users, while retaining the interfacing capabilities and hackability of the classic Raspberry Pi line.
The new Raspberry Pi 4 B has a much more powerful Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor clocked at up to 1.5 GHz, 1 to 4GB LPDDR4, 4K H.265 video decoding and output support, a proper Gigabit Ethernet port, as well as USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports. Raspberry Pi 4 comes with all those extra features, but the form factor remains the same, and importantly the price is still $35 for the version with 1GB RAM.
In this version of Raspberry Pi there’s a separate Gigabit Ethernet transceiver (BCM54213PE), and USB goes through a VIA VL805 PCIe to 4-port USB 3.0 host controller so the bandwidth is no more shared with USB + Ethernet. They also moved from USB micro-B to USB-C for the power connector. This supports an extra 500mA of current, ensuring it has a full 1.2A for downstream USB devices, even under heavy CPU load.
Wireless Support
Wireless support is provided in an RF shielded module by the same Cypress CYW43455 chip as we saw on the Raspberry Pi 3, Model B+. Offering dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz IEEE 802.11.b/g/n/ac wireless networking, as well as Bluetooth 5.0 and Bluetooth LE.
New Raspbian Software
According to the Raspberry Pi website:
To support Raspberry Pi 4, we are shipping a radically overhauled operating system, based on the forthcoming Debian 10 Buster release. This brings numerous behind-the-scenes technical improvements, along with an extensively modernised user interface, and updated applications including the Chromium 74 web browser. Simon will take an in-depth look at the changes in tomorrow’s blog post, but for now, here’s a screenshot of it in action.
Some advice for those who are keen to get going with Raspbian Buster right away: we strongly recommend you download a new image, rather than upgrading an existing card. This ensures that you’re starting with a clean, working Buster system. If you really, really want to try upgrading, make a backup first.
Read more: RASPBERRY PI 4 OFFERS TRUE GIGABIT ETHERNET AND 4K VIDEO FOR $35
