Raspberry Pi doubles memory options and adds USB boot options

There is lots happening on the Raspberry Pi front. The latest flagship version has doubled its memory and there are new options for USB boot support, in beta…

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 8GB

First off, a new version of the current flagship model. Gadget Masters will be keen to note that Farnell is producing a new variation of the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B with double the on-board memory of existing models (previously, 2GB and 4GB versions were available).

The idea is to help speed the processing of data-intensive applications, for example any manipulation involved in large-scale data sets and AI processing. Plus there’s always improved Web browsing.

And of course a big win could be had in terms of machine vision and high definition video. We’re talking about adding the new Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera into the mix, with its 12-megapixel ultra-definition-resolution capabilities…

The new 8GB mode is currently priced at £58.14

Specification

Powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core Broadcom BCM2711 64-bit SoC (Cortex-A72, ARM v8), other elements of the spec include dual-display support at resolutions of up to 4K at 60fps, 2 x USB 3.0 ports, 2 x USB 2.0 Ports and Bluetooth 5.0 support:

Broadcom BCM2711, quad-core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.5GHz
8GB LPDDR4 SDRAM
2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac wireless LAN, Bluetooth 5.0, BLE
True Gigabit Ethernet
2 x USB 3.0 ports, 2 x USB 2.0 Ports
Fully backwards compatible 40-pin GPIO header
2 x micro HDMI ports supporting up to 4K 60Hz video resolution
2-lane MIPI DSI/CSI ports for camera and display
4-pole stereo audio and composite video port
MicroSD card slot for loading operating system and data storage
Requires 5.1V, 3A power via USB-C or GPIO
PoE (Power over Ethernet) enabled (requires PoE HAT)

“The additional memory and faster data processing capability of the 8GB Raspberry Pi 4 Model B computer provides design-oriented customers with an easy-to-use hardware solution that can scale up or down to support the memory requirements of a wide range of applications,” said Sarah Fawcett, Global Programme Manager for Single Board Computers at Farnell.

“The enhanced memory option, coupled with a broad range of add-on accessories, makes the Raspberry Pi one of the most flexible and cost-effective single board computers for consumer, education, professional and commercial use.”

Eben Upton, Raspberry Pi Trading Chief Executive adds:

“We’re delighted to be working with Farnell to bring the new 8GB Raspberry Pi 4 to market. This is a product that we’ve been looking forward to releasing since the launch of Raspberry Pi 4 in June 2019, and now, enabled by our close relationship with our memory partners at Micron, it has finally become a reality. This product, and our forthcoming 64-bit Debian-based operating system will open up a wide range of new high-end applications for the Raspberry Pi platform.”

USB Boot options

Another recent development for the PI involves boot options.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has brought out a beta release of a firmware update featuring a bootloader with USB boot support for the Raspberry Pi 4.

This is a beta release, note, but the Foundation say’s “it won’t be very long” before a standard release appears.

Basically, if you have a USB card reader you will be able to boot from that – after burning a fresh version of the new firmware to an SD card – instead of direct SD boot.

You can read more on the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s Forum.