The current Raspberry Pi 4 has been with us for more than two years. This latest model incorporated some of the improvements most demanded by the community, such as the inclusion of a USB C connector, Gigabit Ethernet as standard or HDMI 2.0 video output for 4K at 60 Hz . In May of last year we received the Raspberry Pi 4 B, and now the foundation is currently working on the two versions that will succeed it, and has already announced some of its changes.
The next two boards to be launched will be the Raspberry Pi 4 Model A ( 4A ), and the Raspberry Pi 5 , as well as a new touch screen. This was announced by the CEO and founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation , Eben Upton, who has revealed that they are currently working on future products, although they are currently focused on the development of the first two. Therefore, there are still years until we see a Raspberry Pi 5.
Raspberry Pi 4A: cheap model that would arrive in 2022
The Raspberry Pi 4A would arrive at the earliest in 2022 . Traditionally, the B models usually have four USB ports and the maximum possible amount of RAM. In the case of the A models, the models tend to have fewer ports, less functionality and a smaller size, but in return they cost less .
However, the shortage of chips will make it difficult to maintain the price of the new model A. Models A tend to sell less (around hundreds of thousands of units), compared to models B, which tend to sell in the millions. Since a price difference of 10 euros in such cheap devices makes it worth going for the most powerful one with the most functionalities it offers.
Thus, if they raise the price, they will sell even fewer units. To keep the cost down, the company is considering removing USB 3.0, managed by the VL805 chip that converts the PCIe lanes to USB 3. By doing so, they would probably reuse the previous LAN9512 or LAN9514 chips that combine USB 2.0 and Ethernet on the same chip, keeping the cost as low as possible. They could also offer a single full-size HDMI connector, saving on cost and space.
Between 2020 and 2021, Raspberry Pi sales have skyrocketed to all-time highs, where for just 30 or 40 euros it was possible to have a complete computer to work remotely. For this reason, the foundation has preferred to prioritize the sale of current models ( Raspberry Pi 4, Pi 400 and Compute Module 4 ) and not “remove” chips from those models, which could lead to stock problems. Thus, there have been hardly any rivals for the Raspberry Pi this year thanks to its prices.
Therefore, if the shortage of chips begins to be solved next year, we could see this board with a smaller size, less RAM, USB 2.0 ports, and a possible PCIe slot to connect cards in case we want, for example, USB 3.0 ports.
Display and Raspberry Pi 5: future products
In 2022 another product would also arrive: an improved version of the touch screen . The current model was launched at the end of 2015, and in these six years no new official has been launched that improves the resolution of 800 x 480 pixels .
By 2023 or even later, we will see the arrival of a Raspberry Pi 5 . Among its improvements, it has been confirmed that we will have a more powerful processor to run Raspberry Pi operating systems with more power. We will also see more than 8GB of RAM, faster USB connectivity, better WiFi (probably WiFi 6 at least), and 2.5Gbps Ethernet.
