Raspberry Pi 4 2GB gets a price hike to $45, 1GB version coming back for $35
We've been used to getting better hardware for cheaper or in the case of Raspberry Pi model B boards a stable $35 price tag since 2021 with gradual improvements to the hardware. Many companies already had to hike prices for their board due to supply constraints, and Raspberry Pi Trading has become the latest victim of the increase in components with the Raspberry Pi 4 with 2GB RAM going back to its original $45 price tag, and the re-introduction of the Raspberry Pi 4 1GB for $35. We are told this is temporary, and once everything settles the Raspberry Pi 4 2GB should sell for $35 as was the case since last year. This is the very first price hike in Raspberry Pi (short) history.
[...] Eben Upton explains the Raspberry Pi 4, Raspberry Pi 400, and Compute Module 4 will not be as badly impacted as earlier products based on a 40nm manufacturing process. That means they'll have to make some tough choices notably prioritizing Compute Module 3, Compute Module 3+, and Raspberry Pi 3B, at the cost of the Raspberry Pi 3B+ which will fall at the back of the queue mostly to cater to the needs of industrial customers. People still using Raspberry Pi 3B+ in their design are recommended to switch to Raspberry Pi 4 with 1GB RAM.
Also at The Register.
Previously: 2 GB Model of Raspberry Pi 4 Gets Permanent Price Cut to $35
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A birthday gift: 2GB Raspberry Pi 4 now only $35
In two days' time, it will be our eighth birthday (or our second, depending on your point of view). Many of you set your alarms and got up early on the morning of 29 February 2012, to order your Raspberry Pi from our newly minted licensee partners, RS Components and Premier Farnell. In the years since, we've sold over 30 million Raspberry Pi computers; we've seen our products used in an incredible range of applications all over the world (and occasionally off it); and we've found our own place in a community of makers, hobbyists, engineers and educators who are changing the world, one project, or one student, at a time.
[...] Which brings us to today's announcement. The fall in RAM prices over the last year has allowed us to cut the price of the 2GB variant of Raspberry Pi 4 to $35. Effective immediately, you will be able to buy a no-compromises desktop PC for the same price as Raspberry Pi 1 in 2012. [...] And of course, thanks to inflation, $35 in 2012 is equivalent to nearly $40 today. So effectively you're getting all these improvements, and a $5 price cut.
[...] In line with our commitment to long-term support, the 1GB product will remain available to industrial and commercial customers, at a list price of $35. As there is no price advantage over the 2GB product, we expect most users to opt for the larger-memory variant. [...] The 4GB variant of Raspberry Pi 4 will remain on sale, priced at $55.
In addition to falling RAM prices (which will hopefully continue to fall in the future), there is likely an oversupply of the 2 GB model as the 4 GB model proved to be the most popular.
Also at TechCrunch, Tom's Hardware, PCWorld, and Hackaday.
The USB Type-C resistor issue has been fixed by the latest revision of the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B hardware, which is confirmed to be out in the wild. The issue prevented some USB-C power supplies from working with Pi4B:
Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit Exits Lengthy Beta
February 2, 2022 marks the day that 64-bit flavor of Raspberry Pi OS moves from a rather lengthy beta, into the world at large. The news, announced via a blog post by Gordon Holingworth, Chief Product Officer at Raspberry Pi Ltd sees the 64-bit OS move to being released. But this new release isn't set to replace the 32-bit version just yet.
Originally released as a beta back in May 2020, Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit looks and feels the same as the venerable 32-bit version but under the hood we get a little more horsepower for the newer models of Raspberry Pi.
[...] At this time, there is no 64-bit support for Widevine DRM. This means that we cannot play media from sites such as Disney+ and Netflix. The current workaround, detailed in the blog post, requires us to install the 32-bit Chromium browser.
[...] We asked Hollingworth if the 32-bit OS will be phased out as more 64-bit compatible models are released? "While we manufacture hardware with 32-bit processors then we will still continue with the 32-bit recommended image. (We still make original Pi model B's because we always said we would continue to do so while it was possible)," he said.
Previously: Raspberry Pi 4 Gets 8 GB RAM Model, Also 64-bit OS and USB Boot (Both in Beta)
Raspberry Pi Raises Price for First Time, Reintroduces 1 GB Model for $35
Quad-Core Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W Launched at $15
Vlogger Jeff Geerling has an analysis of rumors of a future IPO for Raspberry Pi Trading Ltd.
But long-term, will Eben's vision for what makes Raspberry Pi change? Will there be turnover and some of the people who make the Pi a joy to use be gone?
Will the software side start leaning on subscriptions to increase revenues to make shareholders happy?
And ultimately, could Eben be replaced, and would that change things? Yes, probably, but I won't speculating about any that here. See my blog post about enshittification from last month if you wanna read more about that topic.
What I will do is answer some misconceptions I've seen about Raspberry Pi and the IPO.
The Register covered the IPO discussion the other day and while bankers have been appointed to the task, the CEO asserts that nothing will change.
"The business is in a much better place than it was last time we looked at it. We partly stopped because the markets got bad. And we partly stopped because our business became unpredictable."
"Unpredictable" is an understatement for many who attempted to acquire certain models of the computer during the supply chain crunches of recent years. "The public markets value predictability as much as they value performance," said Upton.
Previously:
(2023) Arm Acquires Minority Stake in Raspberry Pi
(2023) Eben Upton Interview on Raspberry Pi Availability Update and Painful Decisions
(2023) Raspberry Pi Produced 10 Million RP2040s in 2021, More Pi Stores Likely
(2022) 10 Years of Raspberry Pi: the $25 Computer Has Come a Long Way
(2021) Raspberry Pi Raises Price for First Time, Reintroduces 1 GB Model for $35
... and many more.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 22 2021, @06:48PM (3 children)
> This is the very first price hike in Raspberry Pi (short) history
Raspberry Pi was launched on 24 February 2012; 9 years ago.
I don't find 9 years to be short for a computer product, much less a specific price. That's a very long time to keep a product line and price point stable.
Its older than the Intel Nuc. Its older than the Microsoft Surface (its older than Windows 8 too).
(Score: 2, Funny) by NPC-131072 on Friday October 22 2021, @08:01PM (2 children)
Did you never stop to think Pi's may choose to self-identify as "short"?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 22 2021, @09:06PM (1 child)
I think they have the sentient subprocessor disabled by default, but if you enable it they may respond to self-identification API.
(Score: 3, Funny) by NPC-131072 on Saturday October 23 2021, @04:04AM
Subsentient is my fren, how dare you!
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 22 2021, @08:06PM (4 children)
I don't think I've ever bought a raspberry pie for as cheap as promised. Not unless it's seriously old like an early model A. Any pie even remotely new is already sold at a marked up price, or more usually unavailable. To be honest if I could find a 2GB Pi 4 for $35 I'd be happy with the deal.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by DECbot on Friday October 22 2021, @09:24PM
I once found a pi at the advertised price at Newark/Element14. Though that's the price for just the board. After adding the power supply, case, SD card, and heatsinks, it was about the same as the starter kits found on Amazon. Now that's what I do; I order those kits through Amazon so I don't have the hassle.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Saturday October 23 2021, @09:50PM
I have a Raspberry Pi Zero 1.3 that was $0.99 a few years ago, obviously a special get you into it sale.
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2885 [adafruit.com]
(Score: 1) by chown on Sunday October 24 2021, @08:12AM
I bought the 2GB for $35 (now $45, 33 units in stock) from Chicago Electronic Distributors: https://chicagodist.com/collections/raspberry-pi [chicagodist.com]
I have zero ties of any sort to them. Just a satisfied customer.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday October 25 2021, @04:55PM
The advertised $35 price point is a nominal price-point for the bare board. You obviously at the bare minimum need a power source. Then, depending on your application, various other things to attach to it, enclose it, or interact with it.
The thing I would like for it to be is a great DOSBox machine. The earlier models didn't work as well as I'd hoped. Mainly due to the OS interface lag, not necessarily how well it actually played the games. Also, the whole, we couldn't be bothered enough to include a tiny battery+time keeping device or a normal power switch, has irked me over the years.
I purchased one of each main version of the RaspberryPi. The Pi4 seems to be good enough from the OS interface lag perspective, but I have a kid now. Thus, most of my brain energy goes to work and family. By the time I get to some me time, I'm down to, okay, time for some de-stressing. Which usually is some form of entertainment, whether it's games or shows.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 23 2021, @12:47AM (6 children)
Obviously someone will pipe up about how the hardware has changed and become more powerful to cater for the RPI's primary non-self-education-with-lots-of-money market, but a computer staying the same price for ~ten years is ...bogus.
The Commodore 64 was $595 in 1983, and $99 in 1993.
The once-the-epitome of overpriced computers--the Macintosh-- was dragged kicking and screaming down to (comparible) Wintendo prices.
Staying the same price 'forever' is a Texas Instrument Calculator maneuver.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 23 2021, @05:33AM (4 children)
And here is the perfect example of a comment from an alternate universe. Specifically one where there is/was/will be only one model of the Raspberry Pi rather than our universe where they have had multiple iterations of the product with improved specs.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 23 2021, @10:20AM (3 children)
> Obviously someone will pipe up about how the hardware has changed and become more powerful to cater for the RPI's primary non-self-education-but-with-lots-of-money market
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 23 2021, @10:22AM (1 child)
...and needs a /s/Touché/Captain Obvious has Arrived!/
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 23 2021, @11:06AM
Not that complicated. It's just autism.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 24 2021, @04:19AM
When you set up a "heads I win; tails you lose" situation, you might as well go meta. Think about it and you'll see it or don't and you won't.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 23 2021, @10:50PM
It's worth noting that TI boosts the capabilities of the hardware over time to try and justify the price not changing. Compare the first version of their calculators with the most revision of the same line and there's frequently higher specs.
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Saturday October 23 2021, @11:54AM (1 child)
The price of everything is going up. Don't worry, the inflation is temporary (or has the Media of Truth changed its stance?)
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 24 2021, @12:13AM
Wow. Well, ok then. You must be loads of fun at cocktail parties.