The Raspberry Pi 5 is finally here

Despite doubts that the Raspberry Pi 5 will launch this year, the latest version of the microcomputer arrived with some notable improvements at a starting price of $60. Not only is it supposed to perform better than its predecessor, but it’s also the first Raspberry Pi to come with internal silicon.

Powering the brain of the Raspberry Pi 5 is a 64-bit quad-core Arm Cortex-A76 processor running at 2.4 GHz, delivering a two- to three-fold increase in performance compared to the quad-core Raspberry Pi 4. years. The device also comes with an 800 MHz VideoCore VII graphics chip that the Raspberry Pi Foundation says offers a “substantial improvement” in graphics performance.

I had to test the device for myself. While I didn’t have time to play with it much, I found that it boots up pretty quickly while also loading web pages quickly compared to my previous Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+. It’s pretty hot, but luckily the Raspberry Pi shipped an active cooling component that I was able to mount directly to the board.

Additionally, the Raspberry Pi 5 features a component made by the Raspberry Pi Foundation for the first time: the south bridge, also known as a part of the motherboard that helps it communicate with peripherals. With the RP1 southbridge, the Raspberry Pi Foundation says the microcomputer “delivers a step-change in peripheral performance and functionality,” enabling faster transfer speeds to external UAS units and other peripherals.

It also opens two quad-lane 1.5Gbps MIPI transceivers that allow you to connect up to two cameras or displays. There’s also a new single-lane PCI Express 2.0 interface for the first time, offering support for “high-bandwidth peripherals.” However, the Raspberry Pi Foundation notes that you’ll still need a separate adapter, such as an M.2 HAT (hardware attached on top) to take advantage of it.

In terms of ports, you can expect dual 4Kp60 HDMI display outputs with HDR support, a microSD slot, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, and a 5V DC power connection over USB-C. Some other cool stuff includes support for Bluetooth 5.0 and Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) and maximum SD card performance that is “doubled” with SDR104 high-speed mode. Together, all of these upgrades make the Raspberry Pi 5 even more versatile, whether you use it as an ultra-affordable desktop PC, a media server, or even a DIY security system.

The Raspberry Pi 5 will come with a couple of different RAM options at launch, and will cost $60 for the 4GB version and $80 for the 8GB version. That makes it slightly more expensive than the Raspberry Pi 4, which is priced at $55 for 4GB of RAM and $75 for 8GB. The Raspberry Pi 5 will be available for purchase before the end of October.