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The Raspberry Pi Foundation has announced a new Raspberry Pi 4 model with 8 GB of RAM:
Now, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has upped the ante by releasing a Raspberry Pi 4 B with a generous 8GB of RAM. Launching today for $75, the Raspberry Pi 4 B (8GB) is identical to other Raspberry Pi 4 B models in every way, except for its RAM capacity. So what do you do with all that memory, and is spending $20 more than the price of the $55 4GB model worth it?
The short answer is that, right now, the 8GB capacity makes the most sense for users with very specialized needs: running data-intensive server loads or using virtual machines. As our tests show, it's pretty difficult to use more than 4GB of RAM on Raspberry Pi, even if you're a heavy multitasker.
A beta version of a 64-bit Raspbian OS, which is being renamed to "Raspberry Pi OS", is available. The existing 32-bit Raspbian can use all the RAM, but with a limit of up to 3 GB per process.
Some changes have been made to the board:
The back of the board adds silkscreen for certifications, as well as existing modifications for Raspberry Pi 4 Rev 1.2 to avoid damaging the board when inserting a MicroSD card. But the top of the board has more modification around the USB-C port, USB Type-A ports, and a chip between the VLI PCIe to USB chip and AV jack is just gone. So it's possible further USB-C issues have been fixed, and some improvements have been made to USB host ports maybe with regards to powering up external hard drives.
[Update from Eben Upton about hardware changes:
These are the regulator changes I mention in the post. The disappeared chip near the USB connector is the old regulator. The new stuff near the USB-C is the new regulator. The input clamp component has moved across to the USB area to make room.
Several iterations of the Raspberry Pi 4's firmware have reduced power consumption and heat. A beta-level firmware update from earlier in the week added USB boot support.
Also at TechCrunch, The Verge, Notebookcheck, Ars Technica, and ZDNet.
Previously: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Launched
Raspberry Pi 4B CPU Overclocked to 2.147 GHz, GPU at 750 MHz
Raspberry Pi Foundation Begins Working on Vulkan Driver
2 GB Model of Raspberry Pi 4 Gets Permanent Price Cut to $35
Raspberry Pi to Power Ventilators as Demand for Boards Surges
Raspberry Pi Launches Camera With Interchangeable Lens System for $50
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday May 29 2020, @12:22PM (9 children)
More interesting to me: there are new 32-bit Raspbian Busters released on 5-27. Anyone know if anything significant changed since the last release (in February 2020, I think)?
Of course I can make up applications that use more than 4GB in a heartbeat, but I'd much rather hear about more/better heat reduction in the 4GB model. Anything I do that would use even close to 4GB of RAM also tends to make the Pi hotter than it should be.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Friday May 29 2020, @02:31PM (3 children)
Nothing on these release notes [raspberrypi.org].
Power consumption and heat have steadily dropped over the course of several updates:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/thermal-testing-raspberry-pi-4/ [raspberrypi.org]
https://www.raspberrypi.org/app/uploads/2019/11/Raspberry-Pi-4-Power-Draw-6.png [raspberrypi.org]
Now it's almost, but not quite, back down to where 3B+ is. So I have it passively cooled (except I cheat by pointing a desk fan at it) and overclocked.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Friday May 29 2020, @05:51PM (2 children)
I've been running my 4s with the lid off their cases, mounted vertically for convection - and that's been enough, even before the updates.
I did buy one of those clear cases with a tiny fan - what a mistake, nasty horrible buzzy little thing.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Friday May 29 2020, @06:15PM (1 child)
By passively cooled, I meant a FLIRC case [flirc.tv] that acts as a heatsink. Works great by default, but lowers temperature further with a ceiling or desk fan on.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday May 29 2020, @06:36PM
Very pretty.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday May 29 2020, @10:26PM (4 children)
Here, they wrote it up: https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/latest-raspberry-pi-os-update-may-2020/ [raspberrypi.org]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday May 30 2020, @12:04AM (3 children)
The audio changes caused a LOT of problems very quickly. Maybe avoid updating for now.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday May 30 2020, @03:29AM (2 children)
I've been having problems with the February release and getting Bluetooth audio to work with a car adapter, I'm hopeful that they kick it hard enough to correct that issue.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday June 01 2020, @12:06AM (1 child)
The ALSA changes they made disable analog output for me, and the "fixed" [raspberrypi.org] asoundrc file makes analog output work but disables HDMI output.
Then I got an unrelated crash related to video playback, which is "thankfully" widely reported: https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=275489 [raspberrypi.org]
Maybe your Bluetooth audio situation has to do with ALSA, maybe not.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday June 01 2020, @01:44AM
I'm still hoping for the "just works" result to fall out - it does "just work" on Ubuntu desktop, but something about Raspbian February 2020 Buster (and earlier versions) allows my Bluetooth device to connect, but doesn't route my ALSA audio output to it.
🌻🌻 [google.com]