Where was the Raspberry Pi?

Series of low-cost single-board computers used for educational purposes and embedded systems

"RPi" redirects here. For other uses, see RPI . For the dessert, see Raspberry pie

Raspberry Pi ( ) is a series of small single-board computers (SBCs) developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in association with Broadcom. Since 2013, Raspberry Pi devices have been developed and supported by a subsidiary of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, now named Raspberry Pi Ltd.[3] The Raspberry Pi project originally leaned toward the promotion of teaching basic computer science in schools.[4][5][6] The original model became more popular than anticipated,[7] selling outside its target market for diverse uses such as robotics, home and industrial automation, and by computer and electronic hobbyists, because of its low cost, modularity, open design, and its adoption of the HDMI and USB standards.

After the release of the second board type, the Raspberry Pi Foundation set up a new entity, named Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd, and installed Eben Upton as CEO, with the responsibility for developing their computers.[8] The Foundation was rededicated as an educational charity for promoting the teaching of basic computer science in schools and developing countries. Most Raspberry Pis are made in a Sony factory in Pencoed, Wales,[9] while others are made in China and Japan.[10][11]

In 2015, the Raspberry Pi surpassed the ZX Spectrum in unit sales, becoming the best-selling British computer.[12]

In 2021, Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd changed its name to Raspberry Pi Ltd.[13]

Series and generations

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The Raspberry Pi Zero, introduced in 2015

The Raspberry Pi 3 B+, introduced in 2018

The Raspberry Pi 4 B, introduced in 2019

The Raspberry Pi Pico, introduced in 2021

The Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, introduced in 2021

Raspberry Pi 400 Kit, introduced in 2020

The Raspberry Pi 5, introduced in 2023

There are three series of Raspberry Pi, and several generations of each have been released. Raspberry Pi SBCs feature a Broadcom system on a chip (SoC) with an integrated ARM-compatible central processing unit (CPU) and on-chip graphics processing unit (GPU), while Raspberry Pi Pico has a RP2040 system on chip with an integrated ARM-compatible central processing unit (CPU).

Raspberry Pi

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• The Raspberry Pi 5 was announced on September 28, 2023.[25] Improvements in hardware and software reportedly make the Pi 5 more than twice as powerful as the Pi 4.[26] It comes with an I/O-controller designed in-house, a power button, and an RTC chip, among other things. The RTC chip needs a battery, which can be purchased, but it saves a Pi user the cost of the chip. Unlike the Pi 4, it was released with either 4 or 8 GB of RAM. The 4 GB model costs US$60 and the 8 GB model costs US$80. An important thing to note is that it lacks a 3.5 mm audio/video jack. Users can use Bluetooth, HDMI, USB audio or an Audio HAT if they want to hear sound out of the Pi 5.

Raspberry Pi Zero

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• The Raspberry Pi Zero with smaller size and reduced input/output (I/O) and general-purpose input/output (GPIO) capabilities was released in November 2015 for US$5.
• The Raspberry Pi Zero v1.3 was released in May 2016, which added a camera connector.[27]
• The Raspberry Pi Zero W was launched in February 2017, a version of the Zero with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities, for US$10.[28][29]
• The Raspberry Pi Zero WH was launched in January 2018, a version of the Zero W with pre-soldered GPIO headers.[30]
• The Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W was launched in October 2021, a version of the Zero W with a system in a package (SiP) designed by Raspberry Pi and based on the Raspberry Pi 3.[31] In contrast to the older Zero models, the Pi Zero 2 W is 64-bit capable. The price is around US$15.

Raspberry Pi Pico

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Not to be confused with PIC microcontrollers

• Raspberry Pi Pico was released in January 2021 with a retail price of $4.[32] It was Raspberry Pi's first board based upon a single microcontroller chip; the RP2040, which was designed by Raspberry Pi in the UK.[33] The Pico has 264 KB of RAM and 2 MB of flash memory. It is programmable in C, C++, Assembly, MicroPython, CircuitPython and Rust. Raspberry Pi has partnered with Adafruit, Pimoroni, Arduino and SparkFun to build accessories for Raspberry Pi Pico and variety of other boards using RP2040 Silicon Platform.[34] Rather than perform the role of general purpose computer (like the others in the range) it is designed for physical computing, similar in concept to an Arduino.[35]
• The Raspberry Pi Pico W was launched in June 2022, a version of the Pico with 802.11n Wi-Fi capability, for US$6. The CYW43439 wireless chip in the Pico W also supports Bluetooth, but the capability was not enabled at launch.[36]

Model comparison

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Family Model SoC Memory Form Factor Ethernet Wireless GPIO Released Discontinued Raspberry Pi B BCM2835 256 MB Standard[a] Yes No 26-pin 2012 Yes 512 MB 2012[37] A 256 MB No 2013 B+ 512 MB Yes 40-pin 2014 No A+ 256 MB Compact[b] No Yes 512 MB No Raspberry Pi 2 B BCM2836 / 7 1 GB Standard[a] Yes No 2015 Raspberry Pi Zero BCM2835 512 MB Ultra-compact[c] No No W / WH Yes 2017 2 W BCM2710A1[d][38] 2021 Raspberry Pi 3 B BCM2837A0 / B0 1 GB Standard[a] Yes Yes 2016 A+ BCM2837B0 512 MB Compact[b] No Yes[e] 2018 B+ 1 GB Standard[a] Yes[f] 2018 Raspberry Pi 4 B BCM2711B0 / C0[39] 1 GB Standard[a] Yes[g] Yes[e] 2019[40] Yes (2020)[41] 2021[42] No 2 GB 2019[40] 4 GB 8 GB 2020 400 4 GB Keyboard Raspberry Pi Pico RP2040 264 KB Pico[h] No No 2021 W Yes[i] 2022 Raspberry Pi 5[43] BCM2712 4 GB Standard[a] Yes[g] Yes[e] 2023 8 GB

As of 4 May 2021, Raspberry Pi is committed to manufacture most Pi models until at least January 2026. Even the 1 GB Pi 4B can still be specially-ordered.[44]

Hardware

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The Raspberry Pi hardware has evolved through several versions that feature variations in the type of the central processing unit, amount of memory capacity, networking support, and peripheral-device support.

Block diagram describing models B, B+, A and A+

This block diagram describes models B, B+, A and A+. The Pi Zero models are similar, but lack the Ethernet and USB hub components. The Ethernet adapter is internally connected to an additional USB port. In Model A, A+, and the Pi Zero, the USB port is connected directly to the system on a chip (SoC). On the Pi 1 Model B+ and later models the USB/Ethernet chip contains a five-port USB hub, of which four ports are available, while the Pi 1 Model B only provides two. On the Pi Zero, the USB port is also connected directly to the SoC, but it uses a micro USB (OTG) port. Unlike all other Pi models, the 40 pin GPIO connector is omitted on the Pi Zero, with solderable through-holes only in the pin locations. The Pi Zero WH remedies this.

Processor speed ranges from 700 MHz to 1.4 GHz for the Pi 3 Model B+ or 1.5 GHz for the Pi 4; on-board memory ranges from 256 MB to 8 GB random-access memory (RAM), with only the Raspberry Pi 4 and the Raspberry Pi 5 having more than 1 GB. Secure Digital (SD) cards in MicroSDHC form factor (SDHC on early models) are used to store the operating system and program memory, however some models also come with onboard eMMC storage[45] and the Raspberry Pi 4 can also make use of USB-attached SSD storage for its operating system.[46] The boards have one to five USB ports. For video output, HDMI and composite video are supported, with a standard 3.5 mm tip-ring-sleeve jack carrying mono audio together with composite video. Lower-level output is provided by a number of GPIO pins, which support common protocols like I²C. The B-models have an 8P8C Ethernet port and the Pi 3, Pi 4 and Pi Zero W have on-board Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth.[47]

Processor

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The Raspberry Pi 2B uses a 32-bit 900 MHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor.

The Broadcom BCM2835 SoC used in the first generation Raspberry Pi[48] includes a RISC-based 700 MHz 32-bit ARM1176JZF-S processor, VideoCore IV graphics processing unit (GPU),[49] and RAM. It has a level 1 (L1) cache of 16 KB and a level 2 (L2) cache of 128 KB. The level 2 cache is used primarily by the GPU. The SoC is stacked underneath the RAM chip, so only its edge is visible. The ARM1176JZ(F)-S is the same CPU used in the original iPhone,[50] although at a higher clock rate, and mated with a much faster GPU.

The earlier V1.1 model of the Raspberry Pi 2 used a Broadcom BCM2836 SoC with a 900 MHz 32-bit, quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor, with 256 KB shared L2 cache.[51] The Raspberry Pi 2 V1.2 was upgraded to a Broadcom BCM2837 SoC with a 1.2 GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor,[14] the same one which is used on the Raspberry Pi 3, but underclocked (by default) to the same 900 MHz CPU clock speed as the V1.1. The BCM2836 SoC is no longer in production as of late 2016.

The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B uses a Broadcom BCM2837 SoC with a 1.2 GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor, with 512 KB shared L2 cache. The Model A+ and B+ are 1.4 GHz[52][53][54]

The Raspberry Pi 4 uses a Broadcom BCM2711 SoC with a 1.5 GHz (later models: 1.8 GHz) 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 processor, with 1 MB shared L2 cache.[55][56] Unlike previous models, which all used a custom interrupt controller poorly suited for virtualisation, the interrupt controller on this SoC is compatible with the ARM Generic Interrupt Controller (GIC) architecture 2.0, providing hardware support for interrupt distribution when using ARM virtualisation capabilities.[57][58] The VideoCore IV of the previous models has also been replaced with a VideoCore VI running at 500 MHz.

The Raspberry Pi Zero and Zero W use the same Broadcom BCM2835 SoC as the first generation Raspberry Pi, although now running at 1 GHz CPU clock speed.[59]

The Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W uses the RP3A0-AU, which is a System-in-Package (SiP) design. The package contains a Broadcom BCM2710A1 processor, which is a 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 clocked at 1 GHz, along with 512 MB of LPDDR2 SDRAM layered above.[60][61] The Raspberry Pi 3 also uses the BCM2710A1 in its Broadcom BCM2837 SoC, but clocked at a higher 1.2 GHz.

The Raspberry Pi Pico uses the RP2040,[62] a microcontroller containing dual ARM Cortex-M0+ cores running at 133 MHz, 6 banks of SRAM totaling 264 KB, and programmable IO for peripherals.[63]

The Raspberry Pi 5 uses a 64-bit 2.4 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A76 processor.

The Raspberry Pi 5 uses the Broadcom BCM2712 SoC, which is a chip designed in collaboration with Raspberry Pi. The SoC features a quad-core ARM Cortex-A76 processor clocked at 2.4 GHz, alongside a VideoCore VII GPU clocked at 800 MHz. The BCM2712 SoC also features support for cryptographic extensions for the first time on a Raspberry Pi model. Alongside the new processor and graphics unit, the monolithic design of the earlier BCM2711 has been replaced with a CPU and chipset (southbridge) architecture, as the IO functionality has been moved to the Raspberry Pi 5's custom RP1 chip.[64]

Performance

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While operating at 700 MHz by default, the first generation Raspberry Pi provided a real-world performance roughly equivalent to 0.041 GFLOPS.[65][66] On the CPU level the performance is similar to a 300 MHz Pentium II of 1997–99. The GPU provides 1 Gpixel/s or 1.5 Gtexel/s of graphics processing or 24 GFLOPS of general purpose computing performance. The graphical capabilities of the Raspberry Pi are roughly equivalent to the performance of the Xbox of 2001.

Raspberry Pi 2 V1.1 included a quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU running at 900 MHz and 1 GB RAM. It was described as 4–6 times more powerful than its predecessor. The GPU was identical to the original.[51] In parallelised benchmarks, the Raspberry Pi 2 V1.1 could be up to 14 times faster than a Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+.[67]

The Raspberry Pi 3, with a quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, is described as having ten times the performance of a Raspberry Pi 1.[68] Benchmarks showed the Raspberry Pi 3 to be approximately 80% faster than the Raspberry Pi 2 in parallelised tasks.[69]

The Raspberry Pi 4, with a quad-core Cortex-A72 processor, is described as having three times the performance of a Raspberry Pi 3.[17]

Overclocking

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Most Raspberry Pi systems-on-chip can be overclocked to various degrees utilising the built in config.txt file in the boot sector of the Raspberry Pi OS. Overclocking is generally safe and does not automatically void the warranty of the Raspberry Pi; however, setting the "force_turbo" option to 1 bypasses voltage and temperature limits and voids the users warranty.[70] In Raspberry Pi OS the overclocking options on boot can also be made by a software command running "sudo raspi-config" on Raspberry Pi 1, 2, and original 3B without voiding the warranty.[71] In those cases the Pi automatically shuts the overclocking down if the chip temperature reaches 85 °C (185 °F); an appropriately sized heat sink is needed to protect the chip from thermal throttling.

Newer versions of the firmware contain the option to choose between five overclock ("turbo") presets that, when used, attempt to maximise the performance of the SoC without impairing the lifetime of the board. This is done by monitoring the core temperature of the chip and the CPU load, and dynamically adjusting clock speeds and the core voltage. When the demand is low on the CPU or it is running too hot, the performance is throttled, but if the CPU has much to do and the chip's temperature is acceptable, performance is temporarily increased with CPU clock speeds of up to 1.1 GHz, depending on the board version and on which of the turbo settings is used.

The overclocking modes are:

none 700 MHz ARM 250 MHz core 400 MHz SDRAM 0 overvolting modest 800 MHz ARM 250 MHz core 400 MHz SDRAM 0 overvolting medium 900 MHz ARM 250 MHz core 450 MHz SDRAM 2 overvolting high 950 MHz ARM 250 MHz core 450 MHz SDRAM 6 overvolting turbo 1000 MHz ARM 500 MHz core 600 MHz SDRAM 6 overvolting Pi 2 1000 MHz ARM 500 MHz core 500 MHz SDRAM 2 overvolting Pi 3 1100 MHz ARM 550 MHz core 500 MHz SDRAM 6 overvolting.
In system information, the CPU speed is indicated as 1200 MHz. When idling, speed lowers to 600 MHz.[71][72]

In the highest (turbo) mode the SDRAM clock speed was originally 500 MHz, but this was later changed to 600 MHz because of occasional SD card corruption. Simultaneously, in high mode the core clock speed was lowered from 450 to 250 MHz, and in medium mode from 333 to 250 MHz.

The CPU of the first and second generation Raspberry Pi board did not require cooling with a heat sink or fan, even when overclocked, but the Raspberry Pi 3 may generate more heat when overclocked.[73]

RAM

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The early designs of the Raspberry Pi Model A and B boards included only 256 MB of random access memory (RAM). Of this, the early beta Model B boards allocated 128 MB to the GPU by default, leaving only 128 MB for the CPU.[74] On the early 256 MB releases of models A and B, three different splits were possible. The default split was 192 MB for the CPU, which should be sufficient for standalone 1080p video decoding, or for simple 3D processing. 224 MB was for Linux processing only, with only a 1080p framebuffer, and was likely to fail for any video or 3D. 128 MB was for heavy 3D processing, possibly also with video decoding.[75] In comparison, the Nokia 701 uses 128 MB for the Broadcom VideoCore IV.[76]

The later Model B with 512 MB RAM, was released on 15 October 2012 and was initially released with new standard memory split files (arm256_start.elf, arm384_start.elf, arm496_start.elf) with 256 MB, 384 MB, and 496 MB CPU RAM, and with 256 MB, 128 MB, and 16 MB video RAM, respectively. But about one week later, the foundation released a new version of start.elf that could read a new entry in config.txt (gpu_mem=xx) and could dynamically assign an amount of RAM (from 16 to 256 MB in 8 MB steps) to the GPU, obsoleting the older method of splitting memory, and a single start.elf worked the same for 256 MB and 512 MB Raspberry Pis.[77]

The Raspberry Pi 2 has 1 GB of RAM.

The Raspberry Pi 3 has 1 GB of RAM in the B and B+ models, and 512 MB of RAM in the A+ model.[78][79][80] The Raspberry Pi Zero and Zero W have 512 MB of RAM.

The Raspberry Pi 4 is available with 1, 2, 4 or 8 GB of RAM.[81] A 1 GB model was originally available at launch in June 2019 but was discontinued in March 2020,[41] and the 8 GB model was introduced in May 2020.[82] The 1 GB model returned in October 2021.[83]

Networking

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The Model A, A+ and Pi Zero have no Ethernet circuitry and are commonly connected to a network using an external user-supplied USB Ethernet or Wi-Fi adapter. On the Model B and B+ the Ethernet port is provided by a built-in USB Ethernet adapter using the SMSC LAN9514 chip.[84] The Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi Zero W (wireless) are equipped with 2.4 GHz WiFi 802.11n (150 Mbit/s) and Bluetooth 4.1 (24 Mbit/s) based on the Broadcom BCM43438 FullMAC chip with no official support for monitor mode (though it was implemented through unofficial firmware patching[85]) and the Pi 3 also has a 10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet port. The Raspberry Pi 3B+ features dual-band IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, and Gigabit Ethernet (limited to approximately 300 Mbit/s by the USB 2.0 bus between it and the SoC). The Raspberry Pi 4 has full gigabit Ethernet (throughput is not limited as it is not funnelled via the USB chip.)

Special-purpose features

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The RPi Zero, RPi1A, RPi3A+[86] and RPi4 can be used as a USB device or "USB gadget", plugged into another computer via a USB port on another machine. It can be configured in multiple ways, such as functioning as a serial or Ethernet device.[87] Although originally requiring software patches, this was added into the mainline Raspbian distribution in May 2016.[87]

Raspberry Pi models with a newer chipset can boot from USB mass storage, such as from a flash drive. Booting from USB mass storage is not available in the original Raspberry Pi models, the Raspberry Pi Zero, the Raspberry Pi Pico, the Raspberry Pi 2 A models, and the Raspberry Pi 2 B models with versions lower than 1.2.[88]

Peripherals

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The Model 2B boards incorporate four USB Type-A ports for connecting peripherals.

Although often pre-configured to operate as a headless computer, the Raspberry Pi may also optionally be operated with any generic USB computer keyboard and mouse.[89] It may also be used with USB storage, USB to MIDI converters, and virtually any other device/component with USB capabilities, depending on the installed device drivers in the underlying operating system (many of which are included by default).

Other peripherals can be attached through the various pins and connectors on the surface of the Raspberry Pi.[90]

Video

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An early Raspberry Pi 1 Model A, with an HDMI port and a standard RCA composite video port for older displays

The video controller can generate standard modern TV resolutions, such as HD and Full HD, and higher or lower monitor resolutions as well as older NTSC or PAL standard CRT TV resolutions. As shipped (i.e., without custom overclocking) it can support the following resolutions: 640×350 EGA; 640×480 VGA; 800×600 SVGA; 1024×768 XGA; 1280×720 720p HDTV; 1280×768 WXGA variant; 1280×800 WXGA variant; 1280×1024 SXGA; 1366×768 WXGA variant; 1400×1050 SXGA+; 1600×1200 UXGA; 1680×1050 WXGA+; 1920×1080 1080p HDTV; 1920×1200 WUXGA.[91]

Higher resolutions, up to 2048×1152, may work[92][93] or even 3840×2160 at 15 Hz (too low a frame rate for convincing video).[94] Allowing the highest resolutions does not imply that the GPU can decode video formats at these resolutions; in fact, the Raspberry Pis are known to not work reliably for H.265 (at those high resolutions),[95] commonly used for very high resolutions (however, most common formats up to Full HD do work).

Although the Raspberry Pi 3 does not have H.265 decoding hardware, the CPU is more powerful than its predecessors, potentially fast enough to allow the decoding of H.265-encoded videos in software.[96] The GPU in the Raspberry Pi 3 runs at higher clock frequencies of 300 MHz or 400 MHz, compared to previous versions which ran at 250 MHz.[97]

The Raspberry Pis can also generate 576i and 480i composite video signals, as used on old-style (CRT) TV screens and less-expensive monitors through standard connectors – either RCA or 3.5 mm phono connector depending on model. The television signal standards supported are PAL-B/G/H/I/D, PAL-M, PAL-N, NTSC and NTSC-J.[98]

Real-time clock

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When booting, the time defaults to being set over the network using the Network Time Protocol (NTP). The source of time information can be another computer on the local network that does have a real-time clock, or to a NTP server on the internet. If no network connection is available, the time may be set manually or configured to assume that no time passed during the shutdown. In the latter case, the time is monotonic (files saved later in time always have later timestamps) but may be considerably earlier than the actual time. For systems that require a built-in real-time clock, a number of small, low-cost add-on boards with real-time clocks are available.[99][100] The Raspberry Pi 5 is the first to include a real-time clock.[101] If an external battery is not plugged in, the Raspberry Pi 5 will use the Network Time Protocol, or will need to be set manually, as was the case in previous models.

The RP2040 microcontroller has a built-in real-time clock, but it can not be set without some form of user entry or network facility being added.

Connectors

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Pi Pico

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• Location of connectors and main ICs on Raspberry Pi Pico

Pi Compute Module

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• Location of connectors and main ICs on Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Lite

Pi Zero

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• Location of connectors and main ICs on Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W

Model A

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• Location of connectors and main ICs on Raspberry Pi 1 Model A

• Location of connectors and main ICs on Raspberry Pi 1 Model A+ revision 1.1

Model B

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• Location of connectors and main ICs on Raspberry Pi 1 Model B revision 1.2

• Location of connectors and main ICs on Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+ revision 1.2 and Raspberry Pi 2

• Location of connectors and main ICs on Raspberry Pi 3

• Location of connectors and main ICs on Raspberry Pi 3+

• Location of connectors and main ICs on Raspberry Pi 4

• Location of connectors and main ICs on Raspberry Pi 5

J8 header and general purpose input-output (GPIO)

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Raspberry Pi 1 Models A+ and B+, Pi 2 Model B, Pi 3 Models A+, B and B+, Pi 4, and Pi Zero, Zero W, Zero WH and Zero W 2 have the same 40-pin pinout (designated J8 across all models).[102] Raspberry Pi 1 Models A and B have only the first 26 pins.[103][104][105] The J8 header is commonly referred to as the GPIO connector as a whole, even though only a subset of the pins are GPIO pins. In the Pi Zero and Zero W, the 40 GPIO pins are unpopulated, having the through-holes exposed for soldering instead. The Zero WH (Wireless + Header) has the header pins preinstalled.

GPIO# 2nd func. Pin# Pin# 2nd func. GPIO# +3.3 V 1 2 +5 V 2 SDA1 (I2C) 3 4 +5 V 3 SCL1 (I2C) 5 6 GND 4 GCLK 7 8 TXD0 (UART) 14 GND 9 10 RXD0 (UART) 15 17 GEN0 11 12 GEN1 18 27 GEN2 13 14 GND 22 GEN3 15 16 GEN4 23 +3.3 V 17 18 GEN5 24 10 MOSI (SPI) 19 20 GND 9 MISO (SPI) 21 22 GEN6 25 11 SCLK (SPI) 23 24 CE0_N (SPI) 8 GND 25 26 CE1_N (SPI) 7 0 ID_SD (I2C) 27 28 ID_SC (I2C) 1 5 N/A 29 30 GND 6 N/A 31 32 N/A 12 13 N/A 33 34 GND 19 N/A 35 36 N/A 16 26 N/A 37 38 Digital IN 20 GND 39 40 Digital OUT 21

Model B rev. 2 also has a pad (called P5 on the board and P6 on the schematics) of 8 pins offering access to an additional 4 GPIO connections.[106] These GPIO pins were freed when the four board version identification links present in revision 1.0 were removed.[107]

GPIO# 2nd func. Pin# Pin# 2nd func. GPIO# +5 V 1 2 +3.3 V 28 GPIO_GEN7 3 4 GPIO_GEN8 29 30 GPIO_GEN9 5 6 GPIO_GEN10 31 GND 7 8 GND

Models A and B provide GPIO access to the ACT status LED using GPIO 16. Models A+ and B+ provide GPIO access to the ACT status LED using GPIO 47, and the power status LED using GPIO 35.

Specifications

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Simplified Model B changelog

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Model Gen Variant Year SoC Clockspeed Cores /
Threads 64-bit GFLOPS RAM
(GB) Video
Output 4K
Ready USB Alt
Boot Ethernet
(Max. Gbit/s) Wi-Fi BT Power Source MSRP
(USD)

1b1

RPi 1 Model B 1B (256 MB)

1b1

2012 BCM2835 0.7 GHz 1/1 0.213

00256

0.25 HDMI1.3
Composite 2 × USB2.0 0.1 Micro-USB $35

1b2

RPi 1 Model B 1B (512 MB) 1/1 0.213

00512

0.5

1b3

RPi 1 Model B+ 1B+

1b3

2014 1/1 0.213 4 × USB2.0 $25

2b1

RPi 2 Model B 2B

2b1

2015 BCM2836 0.9 GHz 4/4 1.47

01024

1 HDMI1.3 $35

2b2

RPi 2 Model B v1.2 2B v1.2

2b2

2016 BCM2837 ✔ 4.43

3b1

RPi 3 Model B 3B 1.2 GHz ✔ 3.62 USB
Network
(through OTP bit setting) b/g/n

single-band
(2.4 GHz only)

4.1 BLE

3b2

RPi 3 Model B+ 3B+

3b2

2018 BCM2837B0 1.4 GHz ✔ 5.3 USB
Network 0.35 b/g/n/ac

dual-band

4.2 LS BLE

4b1

RPi 4 Model B 4B (1 GB)

4b1

2019 BCM2711 1.5 GHz/1.8 GHz ✔ 9.92 2 × Micro-HDMI2.0 ✔ 2 × USB2.0
2 × USB3.0 1.0 5.0 USB-C

4b2

RPi 4 Model B 4B (2 GB) ✔

02048

2 ✔ $35

from $45

4b3

RPi 4 Model B 4B (4 GB) ✔ 13.5

04096

4 ✔ $55

4b4

RPi 4 Model B 4B (8 GB)

4b4

2020 ✔

08192

8 ✔ $75

5b1

RPi 5 5B (4 GB) 2023 BCM2712 2.4 GHz ✔ 4 ✔ $60

5b2

RPi 5 5B (8 GB) ✔ 8 ✔ $80

Software

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Operating systems

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Various operating systems for the Raspberry Pi can be installed on a MicroSD or SD card, depending on the board and available adapters; seen here is the MicroSD slot located on the bottom of a Raspberry Pi 2 board.

Raspberry Pi provides Raspberry Pi OS (formerly called Raspbian), a Debian-based Linux distribution for download, as well as third-party Ubuntu, Windows 10 IoT Core, RISC OS, LibreELEC (specialised media centre distribution)[167] and specialised distributions for the Kodi media centre and classroom management.[168] It promotes Python and Scratch as the main programming languages, with support for many other languages.[169] The default firmware is closed source, while unofficial open source firmware is available.[170][171][172] Many other operating systems can also run on the Raspberry Pi. The formally verified microkernel seL4 is also supported.[173] There are several ways of installing multiple operating systems on one SD card.[174]

Other operating systems (not Linux- nor BSD-based)

Other operating systems (Linux-based)

Other operating systems (BSD-based)

Driver APIs

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Raspberry Pi can use a VideoCore IV GPU via a binary blob, which is loaded into the GPU at boot time from the SD-card, and additional software, that initially was closed source.[207] This part of the driver code was later released.[208] However, much of the actual driver work is done using the closed source GPU code. Application software makes calls to closed source run-time libraries (OpenMAX IL, OpenGL ES or OpenVG), which in turn call an open source driver inside the Linux kernel, which then calls the closed source VideoCore IV GPU driver code. The API of the kernel driver is specific for these closed libraries. Video applications use OpenMAX IL, 3D applications use OpenGL ES and 2D applications use OpenVG, which both in turn use EGL. OpenMAX IL and EGL use the open source kernel driver in turn.[209]

Vulkan driver

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Raspberry Pi first announced it was working on a Vulkan driver in February 2020.[210] A working Vulkan driver running Quake 3 at 100 frames per second on a 3B+ was revealed by a graphics engineer who had been working on it as a hobby project on 20 June.[211] On 24 November 2020 Raspberry Pi announced that their driver for the Raspberry Pi 4 is Vulkan 1.0 conformant.[212] Raspberry Pi Trading announced further driver conformance for Vulkan 1.1 and 1.2 on 26 October 2021[213] and 1 August 2022.[214]

Firmware

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The official firmware is a freely redistributable[215] binary blob, that is proprietary software.[176] A minimal proof-of-concept open source firmware is also available, mainly aimed at initialising and starting the ARM cores as well as performing minimal startup that is required on the ARM side. It is also capable of booting a very minimal Linux kernel, with patches to remove the dependency on the mailbox interface being responsive. It is known to work on Raspberry Pi 1, 2 and 3, as well as some variants of Raspberry Pi Zero.[216]

Third-party application software

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Accessories

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Raspberry Pi 5 megapixel camera Version 2 of the Pi Camera Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera Module Raspberry Pi 4 Model B with a "TV Hat" card (for DVB-T/T2 television reception) attached

• Gertboard – A Raspberry Pi-sanctioned device, designed for educational purposes, that expands the Raspberry Pi's GPIO pins to allow interface with and control of LEDs, switches, analogue signals, sensors and other devices. It also includes an optional Arduino compatible controller to interface with the Pi.[233]
• Camera – On 14 May 2013, Raspberry Pi and the distributors RS Components & Premier Farnell/Element 14 launched the Raspberry Pi Camera alongside a firmware update to accommodate it.[234] The camera is shipped with a flexible flat cable that plugs into the CSI connector which is located between the Ethernet and HDMI ports. In Raspbian, the user must enable the use of the camera board by running Raspi-config and selecting the camera option. The camera module costs €20 in Europe (9 September 2013).[235] It uses the OmniVision OV5647 image sensor and can produce 1080p, 720p and 640x480p video. The dimensions are

  25 mm × 20 mm × 9 mm

  .[235] In May 2016, v2 of the camera was launched: it is an 8 megapixel camera using a Sony IMX219.[236] In January 2023, v3 of the camera was launched: it is a 12 megapixel camera using a Sony IMX708.[237]
• Infrared Camera – In October 2013, Raspberry Pi announced that they would begin producing a camera module without an infrared filter, called the Pi NoIR.[238]
• Official Display – On 8 September 2015, Raspberry Pi and their distributors RS Components & Premier Farnell/Element 14 launched the Raspberry Pi Touch Display[239]
• HAT (Hardware Attached on Top) expansion boards – Together with the Model B+, inspired by the Arduino shield boards, the interface for HAT boards was devised by Raspberry Pi. Each HAT board carries a small EEPROM (typically a CAT24C32WI-GT3)[240] containing the relevant details of the board,[241] so that the Raspberry Pi's OS is informed of the HAT, and the technical details of it, relevant to the OS using the HAT.[242] Mechanical details of a HAT board, which uses the four mounting holes in their rectangular formation, are available online.[243][244]
• High Quality Camera – In May 2020, the 12.3 megapixel Sony IMX477 Exmor sensor camera module was released with support for C- and CS-mount lenses.[245] The unit initially retailed for US$50 with interchangeable lenses starting at US$25.

Vulnerability to flashes of light

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In February 2015, a switched-mode power supply chip, designated U16, of the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B version 1.1 (the initially released version) was found to be vulnerable to flashes of light,[246] particularly the light from xenon camera flashes and green[247] and red laser pointers. The U16 chip has WL-CSP packaging, which exposes the bare silicon die. The Raspberry Pi Foundation blog recommended covering U16 with opaque material (such as Sugru or Blu-Tak) or putting the Raspberry Pi 2 in a case.[248][247] This issue was not discovered before the release of the Raspberry Pi 2 because it is not standard or common practice to test susceptibility to optical interference,[246] while commercial electronic devices are routinely subjected to tests of susceptibility to radio interference.

Reception and use

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NASA's Open Source Rover powered by a Raspberry Pi 3

Technology writer Glyn Moody described the project in May 2011 as a "potential BBC Micro 2.0", not by replacing PC compatible machines but by supplementing them.[249] In March 2012 Stephen Pritchard echoed the BBC Micro successor sentiment in ITPRO.[250] Alex Hope, co-author of the Next Gen report, is hopeful that the computer will engage children with the excitement of programming.[251] Co-author Ian Livingstone suggested that the BBC could be involved in building support for the device, possibly branding it as the BBC Nano.[252] The Centre for Computing History strongly supports the Raspberry Pi project, feeling that it could "usher in a new era".[253] Before release, the board was showcased by ARM's CEO Warren East at an event in Cambridge outlining Google's ideas to improve UK science and technology education.[254]

Harry Fairhead, however, suggests that more emphasis should be put on improving the educational software available on existing hardware, using tools such as Google App Inventor to return programming to schools, rather than adding new hardware choices.[255] Simon Rockman, writing in a ZDNet blog, was of the opinion that teens will have "better things to do", despite what happened in the 1980s.[256]

In October 2012, the Raspberry Pi won T3's Innovation of the Year award,[257] and futurist Mark Pesce cited a (borrowed) Raspberry Pi as the inspiration for his ambient device project MooresCloud.[258] In October 2012, the British Computer Society reacted to the announcement of enhanced specifications by stating, "it's definitely something we'll want to sink our teeth into."[259]

In June 2017, Raspberry Pi won the Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award.[260] The citation for the award to the Raspberry Pi said it was "for its inexpensive credit card-sized microcomputers, which are redefining how people engage with computing, inspiring students to learn coding and computer science and providing innovative control solutions for industry."[261]

Clusters of hundreds of Raspberry Pis have been used for testing programs destined for supercomputers.[262]

Community

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The Raspberry Pi community was described by Jamie Ayre of FOSS software company AdaCore as one of the most exciting parts of the project.[263] Community blogger Russell Davis said that the community strength allows the Foundation to concentrate on documentation and teaching.[263] The community developed a fanzine around the platform called The MagPi[264] which in 2015, was handed over to Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd by its volunteers to be continued in-house.[265] A series of community Raspberry Jam events have been held across the UK and around the world.[266]

Education

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As of January 2012 , enquiries about the board in the United Kingdom have been received from schools in both the state and private sectors, with around five times as much interest from the latter. It is hoped that businesses will sponsor purchases for less advantaged schools.[267] The CEO of Premier Farnell said that the government of a country in the Middle East has expressed interest in providing a board to every schoolgirl, to enhance her employment prospects.[268][269]

In 2014, the Raspberry Pi Foundation hired a number of its community members including ex-teachers and software developers to launch a set of free learning resources for its website.[270] The Foundation also started a teacher training course called Picademy with the aim of helping teachers prepare for teaching the new computing curriculum using the Raspberry Pi in the classroom.[271]

In 2018, NASA launched the JPL Open Source Rover Project, which is a scaled down version of Curiosity rover and uses a Raspberry Pi as the control module, to encourage students and hobbyists to get involved in mechanical, software, electronics, and robotics engineering.[272]

Home automation

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There are a number of developers and applications that are using the Raspberry Pi for home automation. These programmers are making an effort to modify the Raspberry Pi into a cost-affordable solution in energy monitoring and power consumption. Because of the relatively low cost of the Raspberry Pi, this has become a popular and economical alternative to the more expensive commercial solutions.[citation needed]

Industrial automation

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Compute Module 1 Compute Module 3+

In June 2014, Polish industrial automation manufacturer TECHBASE released ModBerry, an industrial computer based on the Raspberry Pi Compute Module. The device has a number of interfaces, most notably RS-485/232 serial ports, digital and analogue inputs/outputs, CAN and economical 1-Wire buses, all of which are widely used in the automation industry. The design allows the use of the Compute Module in harsh industrial environments, leading to the conclusion that the Raspberry Pi is no longer limited to home and science projects, but can be widely used as an Industrial IoT solution and achieve goals of Industry 4.0.[273]

In March 2018, SUSE announced commercial support for SUSE Linux Enterprise on the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B to support a number of undisclosed customers implementing industrial monitoring with the Raspberry Pi.[274]

In January 2021, TECHBASE announced a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 cluster for AI accelerator, routing and file server use. The device contains one or more standard Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4s in an industrial DIN rail housing, with some versions containing one or more Coral Edge tensor processing units.[275]

Commercial products

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The Organelle is a portable synthesizer, a sampler, a sequencer, and an effects processor designed and assembled by Critter & Guitari. It incorporates a Raspberry Pi computer module running Linux.[276]

OTTO is a digital camera created by Next Thing Co. It incorporates a Raspberry Pi Compute Module. It was successfully crowd-funded in a May 2014 Kickstarter campaign.[277]

Slice is a digital media player which also uses a Compute Module as its heart. It was crowd-funded in an August 2014 Kickstarter campaign. The software running on Slice is based on Kodi.[278]

Numerous commercial thin client computer terminals use the Raspberry Pi.[279]

AutoPi TMU device is a telematics unit which is built on top of a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 and incorporates the philosophy of which Raspberry Pi was built upon.[280]

COVID-19 pandemic

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, demand increased primarily due to the increase in remote work, but also because of the use of many Raspberry Pi Zeros in ventilators for COVID-19 patients in countries such as Colombia,[281] which were used to combat strain on the healthcare system. In March 2020, Raspberry Pi sales reached 640,000 units, the second largest month of sales in the company's history.[282]

Astro Pi and Proxima

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A project was launched in December 2014 at an event held by the UK Space Agency. The Astro Pi was an augmented Raspberry Pi that included a sensor hat with a visible light or infrared camera. The Astro Pi competition, called Principia, was officially opened in January and was opened to all primary and secondary school aged children who were residents of the United Kingdom. During his mission, British ESA astronaut Tim Peake deployed the computers on board the International Space Station.[283] He loaded the winning code while in orbit, collected the data generated and then sent this to Earth where it was distributed to the winning teams. Covered themes during the competition included spacecraft sensors, satellite imaging, space measurements, data fusion and space radiation.

The organisations involved in the Astro Pi competition include the UK Space Agency, UKspace, Raspberry Pi, ESERO-UK and ESA.

In 2017, the European Space Agency ran another competition open to all students in the European Union called Proxima. The winning programs were run on the ISS by Thomas Pesquet, a French astronaut.[284] In December 2021, the Dragon 2 spacecraft launched by NASA had a pair of Astro Pi in it.[285]

History

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An early alpha-test board in operation using different layout from later beta and production boards

The computer is inspired by Acorn's BBC Micro of 1981.[286][287] The Model A, Model B and Model B+ names are references to the original models of the British educational BBC Micro computer, developed by Acorn Computers.[288]

According to Upton, the name "Raspberry Pi" was chosen with "Raspberry" as an ode to a tradition of naming early computer companies after fruit, and "Pi" as a reference to the Python programming language.[289]

In 2006, early concepts of the Raspberry Pi were based on the Atmel ATmega644 microcontroller. Its schematics and PCB layout are publicly available.[290] Foundation trustee Eben Upton assembled a group of teachers, academics and computer enthusiasts to devise a computer to inspire children.[267]

The first ARM prototype version of the computer was mounted in a package the same size as a USB memory stick.[291] It had a USB port on one end and an HDMI port on the other.

The Foundation's goal was to offer two versions, priced at US$25 and $35. They started accepting orders for the higher priced Model B on 29 February 2012,[292] the lower cost Model A on 4 February 2013.[293] and the even lower cost (US$20) A+ on 10 November 2014.[109] On 26 November 2015, the cheapest Raspberry Pi yet, the Raspberry Pi Zero, was launched at US$5 or £4.[294]

Launch

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• 16 April 2012 – Reports emerge from the first buyers who had received their Raspberry Pi.[335][336]
• 20 April 2012 – The schematics for the Model A and Model B are released.[337]
• 18 May 2012 – The Foundation reported on its blog about a prototype camera module they had tested.[338] The prototype used a

  14- megapixel

• 22 May 2012 – Over 20,000 units had been shipped.[339]
• July 2012 – Release of Raspbian.[340]
• 16 July 2012 – It was announced that 4,000 units were being manufactured per day, allowing Raspberry Pis to be purchased in bulk.[341][342]
• 24 August 2012 – Hardware accelerated video (H.264) encoding becomes available after it became known that the existing licence also covered encoding. Formerly it was thought that encoding would be added with the release of the announced camera module.[343][344] However, no stable software exists for hardware H.264 encoding.[345] At the same time the Foundation released two additional codecs that can be bought separately, MPEG-2 and Microsoft's VC-1. Also it was announced that the Pi will implement CEC, enabling it to be controlled with the television's remote control.[166]
• 5 September 2012 – The Foundation announced a second revision of the Raspberry Pi Model B.[346] A revision 2.0 board is announced, with a number of minor corrections and improvements.[347]
• 6 September 2012 – Announcement that in future the bulk of Raspberry Pi units would be manufactured in the UK, at Sony's manufacturing facility in Pencoed, Wales. The Foundation estimated that the plant would produce 30,000 units per month, and would create about 30 new jobs.[348][349]
• 15 October 2012 – It is announced that new Raspberry Pi Model Bs are to be fitted with 512 MB instead of 256 MB RAM.[350]
• 24 October 2012 – The Foundation announces that "all of the VideoCore driver code which runs on the ARM" had been released as free software under a BSD-style licence, making it "the first ARM-based multimedia SoC with fully-functional, vendor-provided (as opposed to partial, reverse engineered) fully open-source drivers", although this claim has not been universally accepted.[208] On 28 February 2014, they also announced the release of full documentation for the VideoCore IV graphics core, and a complete source release of the graphics stack under a 3-clause BSD licence[351][352]
• October 2012 – It was reported that some customers of one of the two main distributors had been waiting more than six months for their orders. This was reported to be due to difficulties in sourcing the CPU and conservative sales forecasting by this distributor.[353]
• 17 December 2012 – The Foundation, in collaboration with IndieCity and Velocix, opens the Pi Store, as a "one-stop shop for all your Raspberry Pi (software) needs". Using an application included in Raspbian, users can browse through several categories and download what they want. Software can also be uploaded for moderation and release.[354]
• 3 June 2013 – "New Out of Box Software" or NOOBS is introduced. This makes the Raspberry Pi easier to use by simplifying the installation of an operating system. Instead of using specific software to prepare an SD card, a file is unzipped and the contents copied over to a FAT formatted (4 GB or bigger) SD card. That card can then be booted on the Raspberry Pi and a choice of six operating systems is presented for installation on the card. The system also contains a recovery partition that allows for the quick restoration of the installed OS, tools to modify the config.txt and an online help button and web browser which directs to the Raspberry Pi Forums.[355]
• October 2013 – Raspberry Pi announces that the one millionth Pi had been manufactured in the United Kingdom.[356]
• November 2013: they announce that the two millionth Pi shipped between 24 and 31 October.[357]
• 28 February 2014 – On the day of the second anniversary of the Raspberry Pi, Broadcom, together with Raspberry Pi, announced the release of full documentation for the VideoCore IV graphics core,[

  clarification needed

  ] and a complete source release of the graphics stack under a 3-clause BSD licence.[351][352]

Raspberry Pi Compute Module Raspberry Pi Model B Compute Module 4

• 7 April 2014 – The official Raspberry Pi blog announced the Raspberry Pi Compute Module, a device in a 200-pin DDR2 SO-DIMM-configured memory module (though not in any way compatible with such RAM), intended for consumer electronics designers to use as the core of their own products.[121]
• June 2014 – The official Raspberry Pi blog mentioned that the three millionth Pi shipped in early May 2014.[358]
• 14 July 2014 – The official Raspberry Pi blog announced the Raspberry Pi Model B+, "the final evolution of the original Raspberry Pi. For the same price as the original Raspberry Pi model B, but incorporating numerous small improvements people have been asking for".[110]
• 10 November 2014 – The official Raspberry Pi blog announced the Raspberry Pi Model A+.[109] It is the smallest and cheapest (US$20) Raspberry Pi so far and has the same processor and RAM as the Model A. Like the A, it has no Ethernet port, and only one USB port, but does have the other innovations of the B+, like lower power, micro-SD-card slot, and 40-pin HAT compatible GPIO.
• 2 February 2015 – The official Raspberry Pi blog announced the Raspberry Pi 2. Looking like a Model B+, it has a 900 MHz quad-core ARMv7 Cortex-A7 CPU, twice the memory (for a total of 1 GB) and complete compatibility with the original generation of Raspberry Pis.[359]
• 14 May 2015 – The price of Model B+ was decreased from US$35 to $25, purportedly as a "side effect of the production optimizations" from the Pi 2 development.[360] Industry observers have sceptically noted, however, that the price drop appeared to be a direct response to the CHIP, a lower-priced competitor discontinued in April 2017.[361]
• 29 September 2015 – A new version of the Raspbian operating system, based on Debian Jessie, is released.[362]
• 26 November 2015 – Raspberry Pi launched the Raspberry Pi Zero, the smallest and cheapest member of the Raspberry Pi family yet, at 65 mm × 30 mm, and US$5. The Zero is similar to the Model A+ without camera and LCD connectors, while smaller and uses less power. It was given away with the Raspberry Pi magazine Magpi No. 40 that was distributed in the UK and US that day – the MagPi was sold out at almost every retailer internationally due to the freebie.[117]
• 29 February 2016 – Raspberry Pi 3 with a BCM2837 1.2 GHz 64-bit quad processor based on the ARMv8 Cortex-A53, with built-in Wi-Fi BCM43438 802.11n 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth 4.1 Low Energy (BLE). Starting with a 32-bit Raspbian version, with a 64-bit version later to come if "there is value in moving to 64-bit mode". In the same announcement it was said that a new BCM2837 based Compute Module was expected to be introduced a few months later.[68]
• February 2016 – Raspberry Pi announces that they had sold eight million devices (for all models combined), making it the best-selling UK personal computer, ahead of the Amstrad PCW.[363][68] Sales reached ten million in September 2016.[7]
• 25 April 2016 – Raspberry Pi Camera v2.1 announced with 8 Mpixels, in normal and NoIR (can receive IR) versions. The camera uses the Sony IMX219 chip with a resolution of

  3280 × 2464

  . To make use of the new resolution the software has to be updated.[364]
• 10 October 2016 – NEC Display Solutions announces that select models of commercial displays to be released in early 2017 will incorporate a Raspberry Pi 3 Compute Module.[365]
• 14 October 2016 – Raspberry Pi announces their co-operation with NEC Display Solutions. They expect that the Raspberry Pi 3 Compute Module will be available to the general public by the end of 2016.[366]
• 25 November 2016 – 11 million units sold.[367]
• 16 January 2017 – Compute Module 3 and Compute Module 3 Lite are launched.[115]
• 28 February 2017 – Raspberry Pi Zero W with WiFi and Bluetooth via chip scale antennas launched.[368][369]
• 17 August 2017 – The Raspbian operating system is upgraded to a new version, based on Debian Stretch.[370]
• 14 March 2018 – On Pi Day, Raspberry Pi introduced Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ with improvements in the Raspberry PI 3B computers performance, updated version of the Broadcom application processor, better wireless Wi-Fi and Bluetooth performance and addition of the 5 GHz band.[371]
• 15 November 2018 – Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ launched.[372]
• 28 January 2019 – Compute Module 3+ (CM3+/Lite, CM3+/8 GB, CM3+/16 GB and CM3+/32 GB) launched.[116]
• 24 June 2019 – Raspberry Pi 4 Model B launched,[17] along with a new version of the Raspbian operating system based on Debian Buster.[373]
• 10 December 2019 – 30 million units sold;[374] sales are about 6 million per year.[375][376]
• 28 May 2020 – An 8GB version of the Raspberry Pi 4 is announced for $75.[377] Raspberry Pi OS is split off from Raspbian, and now includes a beta of a 64-bit version that allows programs to use more than 4GB of RAM.[378]
• 19 October 2020 – Compute Module 4 launched.[379]
• 2 November 2020 – Raspberry Pi 400 launched. It is a keyboard which incorporates Raspberry Pi 4 into it. GPIO pins of the Raspberry Pi 4 are accessible.[380]
• 21 January 2021 – Raspberry Pi Pico launched. It is the first microcontroller-class product from Raspberry Pi. It is based on RP2040 Microcontroller developed by Raspberry Pi.[34]
• 11 May 2021 – 40 million units sold.[381]
• 21 September 2021 – 42 million units sold.[382]
• 30 October 2021 – Raspberry Pi OS (formerly Raspbian) is updated version 11, based on Debian Bullseye.[383] With this release, the default clock speed for revision 1.4 of the Raspberry Pi 4 is increased to 1.8 GHz.[23]
• 16 November 2021 – 43 million units sold.[384]
• 28 February 2022, exactly 10 years after the first shipment, 46 million units sold.[385]

Raspberry Pi Cumulative Shipment Units (mil)

Sales

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According to Raspberry Pi, more than 5 million Raspberry Pis were sold by February 2015, making it the best-selling British computer.[12] By November 2016 they had sold 11 million units,[367][386] and 12.5 million by March 2017, making it the third best-selling "general purpose computer".[387] In July 2017, sales reached nearly 15 million,[388] climbing to 19 million in March 2018.[16] By December 2019, a total of 30 million devices had been sold.[389][390]

Supply and demand difficulties

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The global chip shortage starting in 2020, as well as an uptake in demand starting in early 2021, notably affected the Raspberry Pi, causing significant availability issues from that time onward.[391] The company explained its approach to the shortages in 2021,[392] and April 2022,[393] explaining that it was prioritising business and industrial customers.

The situation is sufficiently long term that at least one automated stock checker is online.[394]

See also

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References

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Further reading

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• Raspberry Pi For Dummies; Sean McManus and Mike Cook; 2013; ISBN 978-1118554210.
• Getting Started with Raspberry Pi; Matt Richardson and Shawn Wallace; 2013; ISBN 978-1449344214.
• Raspberry Pi User Guide; Eben Upton and Gareth Halfacree; 2014; ISBN 978-1118921661.
• Hello Raspberry Pi!; Ryan Heitz; 2016; ISBN 978-1617292453.
• The Official Raspberry Pi Beginner’s Guide; Gareth Halfacree; 2023; ISBN 978-1912047260.

Charity which promotes the study of basic computer science in schools, producer of the Raspberry Pi

Headquarters of the Raspberry Pi Foundation

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a charity registered in England and Wales, as well as a UK company limited by guarantee. [6] It was founded in 2009 to promote the study of computer science. It is part of a group that comprises legal entities in India, Ireland, and the United States, which carry out educational activities in those jurisdictions; and Raspberry Pi Ltd, a commercial subsidiary that develops Raspberry Pi computers and other hardware. The foundation’s charitable activities are funded through a combination of Gift Aid from the profits of Raspberry Pi Ltd, contracts for the delivery of educational services e.g. professional development for teachers, and donations from individuals, foundations, and other organisations.

Foundation

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A Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a charitable organisation registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales.[3] The board of trustees was assembled by 2008,[1][7] and the Raspberry Pi Foundation was founded as a registered charity in May 2009 in Caldecote, England.[3] In 2016, The foundation moved its headquarters to Station Road, Cambridge,[8] moving again in 2018, to Hills Road, Cambridge.[9]

The foundation is supported by the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory and Broadcom.[2] Its aim is to "promote the study of computer science and related topics, especially at the school level, and to put the fun back into learning computing."[10] Project co-founder Eben Upton is a former academic, currently employed by Broadcom as a system-on-chip architect and associate technical director.[11] Components, albeit in small numbers, were able to be sourced from suppliers, due to the charitable status of the organisation.[7]

History

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When the decline in numbers and skills of students applying for Computer Science became a concern for a team that included Eben Upton, Rob Mullins, Jack Lang and Alan Mycroft at the University of Cambridge’s Computer Laboratory in 2006, a need for a tiny and affordable computer came to their minds. Several versions of the early Raspberry Pi prototypes were designed but were very limited by the high cost and low power processors for mobile devices at that time.[12]

In 2008, the team started a collaboration with Pete Lomas, MD of Norcott Technologies and David Braben, the co-author of the seminal BBC Micro game Elite, and formed the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Three years later, the Raspberry Pi Model B was born and it had sold over two million units within two years of mass production.[12]

Founders and leadership

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Eben Upton in 2012

[T]he lack of programmable hardware for children – the sort of hardware we used to have in the 1980s – is undermining the supply of eighteen-year-olds who know how to program, so that's a problem for universities, and then it's undermining the supply of 21 year olds who know how to program, and that's causing problems for industry.

Co-founder Eben Upton in 2012[11]

The founders of the organisation were:[13]

• Eben Upton
• Rob Mullins, senior lecturer in the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge
• Jack Lang, affiliated lecturer in the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge and the founder of Electronic Share Information Ltd
• Alan Mycroft, professor of computing in the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge
• David Braben, CEO of Frontier Developments and co-writer of the 1984 game Elite
• Pete Lomas, MD of Norcott Technologies

In early 2013, the organisation split into two parts: Raspberry Pi Foundation, which is responsible for the charitable and educational activities; and Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd, responsible for the engineering and trading activities.[14] Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Raspberry Pi Foundation, with the money earned from sales of Raspberry Pi products being used to fund the charitable work of the Foundation. Eben Upton was initially CEO of both divisions, but in September 2013 Lance Howarth became CEO of the Raspberry Pi Foundation,[14] with Eben Upton remaining as CEO of Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd. Philip Colligan took over from Lance Howarth as CEO of Raspberry Pi Foundation in July 2015.[15][16]

In 2021 Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd changed its name to Raspberry Pi Ltd.[17]

Logo

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In October 2011, the foundation's logo was selected from a number submitted from open competition.[18] A shortlist of six was drawn up, with the final judging taking several days. The chosen design was created by Paul Beech[19] and depicts a raspberry, in the style of a buckminsterfullerene molecule.[20]

Education fund

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In April 2014, the foundation announced a £1 million education fund to support projects that enhance the understanding of computing and to promote the use of technology in other subjects, particularly STEM and creative arts for children.[21] They offered to provide up to 50% of the total projected costs to successful applicants.[22] Carrie Anne Philbin was the Director of Education.[23]

Mergers

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In 2015, the Raspberry Pi Foundation merged with Code Club.[24][25][26] In 2017, it merged with CoderDojo.[27][28]

Bebras

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The Raspberry Foundation is an active sponsor of the British edition of the International Bebras Computing competition, together with the University of Oxford.[29]

Magazine

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The foundation publishes Hello World, a "computing and digital making" magazine.[30] From 2018 to early 2023, the foundation published Wireframe, a video game development magazine.[31]

References

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