Eben Upton, CEO of Raspberry Pi Trading, said: “Four years ago today, we launched the first Raspberry Pi. Today, we’re launching Raspberry Pi 3. It’s still $35 and it’s still the size of your credit card, but now it comes with on-board wireless LAN and Bluetooth, 50% more processing power, and a quad core 64bit processor. The new Raspberry Pi opens up even more possibilities for IoT and embedded projects; we hope you like it as much as we do.”
The board is based on the Broadcom BCM2837 SoC, which includes an ARM Cortex-A53 quad core processor running at 1.2GHz. A BCM43438 combo device provides IEEE802.11b/g/n wireless LAN, Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity. The BCM2837 also integrates a dual core VideoCore IV multimedia coprocessor.
“Raspberry Pi has taken another important step in its evolution,” said Lindsley Ruth, CEO of RS’ parent Electrocomponents. “Based on the robust and well proven combination of hardware and software of the Raspberry Pi platform, this latest generation board delivers even more processing power together with embedded wireless connectivity, plus software to make it easy for businesses or individuals to develop applications for the Internet of Things.”
Claire Doyle, global head of Raspberry Pi at element14, added: “Today, as we celebrate the fourth birthday of Raspberry Pi, we reach another major milestone on the Pi journey, with the launch of a faster, technically advanced board.
“Supported by our growing accessory portfolio, Raspberry Pi 3 allows customers to develop specific applications and build new projects – and we can’t wait to see what customers will do with it!”
Gordon Hollingworth, director of engineering at Raspberry Pi, noted some changes to the board. “Because the board’s form factor is fixed, there was only one place for the Wi-Fi antenna, which means the LED has moved. We’ve also launched a stronger Pi case, as well as an uprated power supply, because of the A53 processor.
“There is also a new compute module board – the CM3 – which will allow people to design their own board and to drop in the Pi module. The idea of this is for people to develop their system on a Pi, then move to the compute module to speed manufacturing.”
However, the module – which will not enter production for another six months – doesn’t feature Wi-Fi. “If we put it on the module,” Hollingworth said, “that would need certification and, to justify that, we would need to see volume.”
