The Raspberry Pi 5: Coming October 2023!

MicroCenterMaker

Want the reveal in video form? Check out our YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOrMsRzeKAM&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=MicroCenter

It’s been four years since we’ve seen a new flagship board from the Raspberry Pi Team but that changes today – announcing the Raspberry Pi 5! There are a lot of new features that are easy to notice in the image below. But some of the biggest changes are what’s happening inside the Pi, showing why this is an amazing next step in the Pi lineage.

Let’s first take a look at some of the changes on the board itself and then we’ll dig into the performance and specs.

The Board:

On the board itself you’ll see a number of new features. Starting on the right, you’ll notice that the USB and Ethernet jack have been switched back to the layout of the 3B models. This was to allow for some very important updates as well as opening up some extra space on the board itself.

As the processor continues to get more powerful, cooling is going to be a more important. The new Pi 5 includes a dedicated PWM Fan connector, allowing you to connect cooling solutions such as the new Active Cooler. The Active Cooler utilizes a large heatsink and blower fan to cool the processor and associated chips. The Pi 5 even includes mounting holes designed for specifically for it! The newly designed Pi 5 case also comes with a cooling fan built in and is extremely configurable for a wide range of applications.

In the upper-right corner you’ll see Raspberry Pi’s RP-1 chip, which is Pi’s first custom Silicon on a flagship product. This “southbridge” style controller was custom designed along with the Broadcom BCM2712 processor to act as the metaphorical air traffic controller for all inputs and outputs, including the GPIO, the USB ports, and the Ethernet port to list a few. Because of this custom silicon and the new 27w USB C power supply, the Pi can supply more power  to external devices.

To the left of the ethernet jack you’ll see two MIPI connectors that will allow you to connect up to two cameras and displays, in any combination.

The Pi 5 carries on the Pi 4’s legacy of Dual Micro HDMI ports, now supporting up to 4K 60Frames on both screens at once. Between the Micro HDMI ports, you’ll find a new connector for UART. This will allow you to hook up the Pi Debugger Probe and trouble shoot your Pi without having to connect a keyboard, monitor, and mouse.

To the left of the Micro HDMI ports, you’ll see another new port which is for a Real Time Clock battery. With the addition of the RTC, you’ll be able to keep your clock consistent and set up new features, like timed wake ups.

The USB C port supports Power Delivery style USB adapters, and the new 27W USB C power adapter from Raspberry Pi provides ample power to run the Pi and more via USB and other ports.

On the left side of the board, above the USB C power connector, is a much anticipated and asked for feature: An On/Off button. Finally, long gone are the days of extra adapters to turn the Pi on and off. This button will work with the operating system to ensure a safe power cycle alleviating the potential for corrupting your operating system.

Above the power button is another new connector which opens up PCIExpress 2nd Gen connectivity. At launch there won’t be much in the ways of accessories, but things like an M.2 hat could follow on in the upcoming weeks or months.

There are a few other, small changes as well. The POE hat connectors have moved and there will be a new version of the POE+ hat in the near future. You may also notice the lack of analog audio/video out. This was removed in favor of adding a few new connectors such as the PCI Express and new MIPI connectors for the camera and display.

The Specs

Now onto performance. Compared to the Raspberry Pi 4, the Pi 5 will see a two-to-three times increase in overall performance. Utilizing the Broadcom BCM2712 processor and depending on how you measure it, it’s about 130x performance delta compared to the original Raspberry Pi 1. We’ll got a full spec list below, but for those looking to utilize the Pi 5 as a desktop solution, these performance increases will be greatly appreciated.

The microSD card slot now supports high-speed SDR104 mode, which is roughly two times the speed of the traditional SD card controller. The two USB 3.0 ports are capable of supporting simultaneous 5Gbps operation. All of these improvements combined really work together to create a powerful user experience which isn’t throttled by antiquated limitations.

There have been several user interface improvements to the operating system as well, which should help users in areas such as power consumption and network management. For best power performance we’ll recommend using Pi’s new official 27w USB C adapter and, while it can work with the former Pi 4 power adapter, it won’t be able to supply optimal amperage to power external devices as well as the new 27w variant can.

At launch the Pi 5 will come in a 4GB and 8GB variant utilizing LPDDR4 SDRAM.

Ultimately, with all of the new connectors and the boost in power and performance, there are many questions around what sorts of new use cases will exist for the Pi 5. We can’t wait to see what you come up with and we can’t wait for a whole host of new products for the Raspberry Pi 5. The boards should be available in our stores around the 23rd of October. There will be limited supply at launch as Raspberry Pi ramps up production for the Pi 5, but we’re excited to get these in the hands of as many of you as possible. So until then, keep an eye on the Community for updates and comment below with your favorite new features of the Pi 5!

Rye_Bread

Oh super duper exciting! Can't wait to see how it handles emulators.

ronwoodson

It's hope they'll be enough to go around for in-store traffic,

Lesaol

Exciting to see the new Pi 5, can’t wait to try one out ! 🤙

Len_zhao

When will be in store?

ricardo_ortega

i’m very excited for the new pi line! So far these are some great info about what’s coming up. 

BenjaminLaRocque125

These look crazy! can't wait to get my hands on one.

Lambdaben

Vladdy

This is awesome! These upgrades are super nice.

Thanks for the information,

-V

lion_enthusiast

Hello! I saw on the website that the Pi 5 availability date was changed from October 23rd to November 3rd. Does this mean that the Pi 5 won't be available in store until a later date? Or does this mean that the Pi 5 won't be available to order via the website until November 3rd?

ChaosDTV

tiny and powerful as ever! emulators are gonna fly fast with this bad boy

icdmize

It looks like Microcenter pulled a fast one on us. Originally scheduled to release on the 23rd of October according to the website. Knocked back to November 3rd and then moved forward to the 27th of October with no announcement to immediately go out of stock (to employees.) I scheduled a day off work in advance to stand in line after an hour drive for this. Thanks for nothing Microcenter.

icdmize

Called the Duluth store yesterday to verify the Raspberry Pi 5 would be in stock today. Fellow tells me that he verified with his inventory staff it will. Showed up early and stood in the cold. No Pis. Staff goes to check in the back, no luck. Checks the other store and they're OVERSOLD. Today was supposed to be launch day. 

TreBouncee

🔥🔥

Kiodiekin

they pushed it back to around the 17th