Today, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has debuted its latest release alongside a collection of new accessories. Bringing all of the enhancements from last year’s Raspberry Pi 4 into a more compact design, the Compute Module 4 sports a refreshed form factor. This time around, there’s also plenty of improvements from past iterations including various RAM tiers, onboard wireless connectivity, and more. Head below for a closer look.
Raspberry Pi debuts new Compute Module 4
Shortly after NVIDIA announced its new $59 Jetson Nano machine learning computer at the beginning of the month, Raspberry Pi is firing back with its latest unveil. The new Compute Module 4 brings the feature set of the Raspberry Pi 4 into a more compact design.
From a spec and performance perspective, the new Compute Module 4 is quite similar to the Raspberry Pi 4 that came before it. At the center of the miniature computer is the same 64-bit 1.5GHz quad-core processor as the full-sized version. But compared to previous Compute Modules from the organization, you’re looking at a series of notably enhancements for anyone in need of the more compact form factor.
Faster CPU cores is a given with the upgraded processor, but now there’s more interfacing capabilities, a broader range of RAM capacities to choose from, and the option to add onboard wireless connectivity. All of that makes the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 the most capable version yet, but it does come at the trade-off of an entirely new form factor that won’t be easily swappable into existing projects.
The new Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 enters with a $25 starting price tag and goes up from there. Raspberry Pi notes that there are 32 different configurations available depending on how much RAM you’ll need, with the entry-level model sporting 1GB. But it’s configurable up to 8GB with 32GB of flash memory at the high-end $90 price point.
Refreshed accessories unveiled as well
On top of the new Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4, there’s also some refreshed accessories to go alongside it. The highlight falls to the new Compute Module 4 IO Board that has been tweaked to fit with the redesigned Compute Module 4 itself. There’s still plenty of I/O here, including two HDMI outputs, Gigabit Ethernet, dual USB 2.0s slots, and a microSD card slot. That’s on top of a slew of other connectors like camera and display FPC slots, a PCI Express Gen 2 x1 socket, and more. The IO board is priced at $35.
But there’s also an Antenna Kit that’ll look to upgrade the wireless capabilities of the Compute Module 4. While the device does have onboard wireless capabilities, the add-on antenna helps for those who need increased range or have some other specific use case in mind. It’ll only cost you $5 to add this kit to the new Raspberry Pi release.
9to5Toys Take
While the Raspberry Pi 4 will remain the best way for tinkerers and enthusiasts to build various projects, the new Compute Module 4 is a welcome addition to the lineup. The Pi Foundation has long been helping startups and the like with its miniature computers, and today’s new release just adds a new tool into the mix for development.
Photo: Raspberry Pi
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