Rumors had it that it wouldn't be available until next year, but the new version of the Raspberry Pi will finally be making its debut in November.
The Raspberry Pi already has a long history, since the little machine was launched just over ten years ago with the aim of democratizing computer programming. The "Pi", as it is sometimes called, is not a single machine, but a succession of "nano-board" computers. In other words, on a tiny motherboard, you'll find everything you need for a complete computer: central processor, graphics solution, I/O management, RAM, storage space, network solution...
Now, four years after the release of the Raspberry Pi 4, the Raspberry Foundation is taking everyone by surprise by announcing that the Pi 5 is not only planned, but on the verge of release, and that pre-orders are already being taken. For the moment, these pre-orders only concern the first shipment, with delivery scheduled for November. However, the story doesn't say how many parts will be available for this first batch, or how long we'll have to wait for the second. Shortages are still affecting the Pi 4 and its little brother, the Compute Model 4.
On paper, the Raspberry Pi 5 logically takes up the Pi 4 formula, but boosts most aspects of it. It is based on a new processor, the Broadcomm BCM2712. Engraved in 16 nanometers by TSMC, it features 4 ARM Cortex A76 CPU cores, each with 512 Kb of L2 cache. There's also a 2 MB shared L3 cache, and operating frequencies go up to 2.4 GHz. The BCM2712 is backed by a VideoCore VII graphics solution capable of reaching 800 MHz. Obviously, with components like these, the Pi 5's power will be far greater than that of the Pi 4: Raspberry claims " two to three times greater ".
Raw power isn't the only improvement, however, and there's also talk of new features such as a PCI Express 2.0 x1 controller and a microSD card reader in SDR104 mode. Two points that should greatly improve throughput. Alas, these various improvements come at a cost, and we're not just talking hard cash. The Pi 5 is expected to consume much more energy than the Pi 4, and Raspberry is announcing the launch of a new 27-watt power supply, compared with the Pi 4's 15 watts!
What's more, the Raspberry Foundation states that it is out of the question to use the Pi 5 without active ventilation. In fact, this makes many Pi 4 cases incompatible with the Pi 5. Mind you, since the foundation has again inverted USB and network ports, your Pi 4 case was unlikely to be compatible anyway. Last but not least, the Pi 5 marks yet another price increase, even though inflation had already pushed up the price of the Pi 4. To make matters worse, the Pi 5 will initially be available only in 4 or 8 GB RAM versions: all in all, the entry ticket is now 70 euros, compared with less than 40 euros for the Pi 4, which is of course less richly endowed and less powerful.
