The Raspberry Foundation has gifted fans of the popular microcomputer with a fantastic surprise. Many people were eagerly awaiting a new revision of Raspberry, but few expected the release to come so 'quickly'.
Raspberry Pi 5 is now a reality. Soon, towards the end of October, the first units of the new Pi will be available for sale. This is great news because the Raspberry Foundation itself had stated that the new version of RPI would be released no earlier than 2024.
But what is Raspberry Pi?
Raspberry Pi is currently the most popular single-board computer. And the term 'computer' is not accidental; literally, on a credit card-sized board, we have a device on which we can run an operating system, a web browser, and even a document editor. Of course, Raspberry doesn't have enough power to replace a traditional PC or Mac in most cases, but I successfully use the Raspberry Pi 400 for basic tasks. However, Pi is not only for web browsing; it's an excellent platform for learning programming, electronics, and Linux server administration.
What's new in Raspberry Pi 5?
Processor
One of the obvious and key changes in Raspberry Pi 5 is its processor. The new hardware revision is based on a 16-nanometer BCM2712 processor, which has a quad-core Cortex-A76 architecture with a clock speed of 2.4GHz. The creators of the new Pi even claim to have doubled the computational power compared to its predecessor. In addition to the new processor, there is a proprietary RP1 chip on the board, which offloads CPU by handling I/O.
Power Supply
Changes have also been made in the power supply section of the board. With the release of the new Raspberry, a new power supply with a special 5V 5A mode will be available. This doesn't mean it's mandatory to use it, although it is recommended. The power management DA9091 detects whether we are using a supported power supply, unlocking a higher current performance mode on the USB ports, providing the user with 1.6A of current to use. This is great news for those looking to run a file server with drives that have higher power requirements.
PCI Express
Raspberry Pi 5 has finally received a PCIe port. Previously, its use was only possible for owners of the Compute Module with the appropriate I/O board. The appearance of PCIe means many new possibilities for users. It's only a matter of time before additional modules supporting NVMe drives, SATA controllers, network cards, and many other PCIe-compatible devices become available. Of course, due to the size of the board and its compatibility with add-ons, the creators did not use a standard PCIe connector but routed it to an FPC connector.
I/O
The new Raspberry retains a similar set of ports. You'll find a gigabit Ethernet port, 4 USB ports, two of which are in the 3.0 standard and the other two in the 2.0 standard. In addition, there are two micro HDMI ports that support 4K resolution at 60Hz refresh rate. Wi-Fi on the board is in the AC standard (Wi-Fi 5), and Bluetooth is in version 5.0. New to this version is a port for connecting a battery to maintain the real-time clock of the built-in RTC module and a port for connecting active cooling, which will be available at the launch of the new Raspberry. For users of dedicated cameras and screens, two new MIPI standard connectors have been added. As usual, the board features a microSD port supporting SDR104 mode. In addition to the aforementioned PCIe port, we have access to 40-pin GPIO. There is also a power button on the board.
Raspberry Pi 5 Versions
Currently, two versions of the new Pi are available for pre-order, with 4GB or 8GB of RAM, operating at more than twice the speed of its predecessor, achieving 4267MT/s. Official information about the release of other versions of the new Raspberry has not been provided. Questions may arise about the jumper visible on the board, suggesting support for 1GB and 2GB memory capacities. However, considering the discontinuation of the 1GB model in the previous generation, the appearance of boards with such capacities may not happen.
In Conclusion
The new Raspberry Pi will be a worthy successor to the four-year-old Raspberry Pi 4. PCIe and increased computational power should enable users to create new and exciting projects. As soon as we receive a Raspberry Pi 5 unit, we will publish tests and projects created based on Raspberry Pi 5 on the blog. Stay tuned!