The Raspberry Pi 4 has just been announced by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. The Raspberry Pi boards have been evolving quite nicely over the last few years and becoming more powerful along the way. This latest version has up to 4GB RAM, 4K dual displays, 1.5Ghz processor and USB 3.0. Instead of a Micro USB port for power like it’s predecessor, this model uses a USB Type-C port.
We have the base Raspberry Pi 4 model for $35 that has 1GB LPDDR4 RAM, $45 gets you 2GB RAM, and $55 gets you 4GB onboard RAM. You have a faster CPU, GPU and faster Ethernet and dual-band Wi-Fi. It also has twice the amount of HDMI outputs than the previous model and two USB 3 ports. The HDMI ports can power two 4K monitors at 30 frames per second.
The previous model, Raspberry Pi 3 B+, could be used as a computer, but the limiting factor was always memory. The newer series 4 devices ship with 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB depending on the configuration you choose.
For storage, we can make use of a microSD card with a maximum transfer rate of 50 Mbps (up from 25 Mbps.) Now, this new series lets you work more productively with fewer barriers. You can use your web browser better and open more tabs (possibly 15 Chromium tabs.) There is no delay when switching between them. Instead of Bluetooth 4.1 (like the previous model) the Raspberry Pi 4 has Bluetooth 5.
You can also do document and spreadsheet work (using Libre Office) and light image editing (using GIMP.) This all sounds great but the board cannot handle full-screen video playback from YouTube, unbelievably, even when you turn the resolution all the way down to 480p.
