New product: Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W on sale now at $15
Priced at $15, Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W uses the same Broadcom BCM2710A1 SoC die as the launch version of Raspberry Pi 3, with Arm cores slightly down-clocked to 1GHz, bundled into a single space-saving package alongside 512MB of LPDDR2 SDRAM. The exact performance uplift over Zero varies across workloads, but for multi-threaded sysbench it is almost exactly five times faster.
[...] Next to the large RP3A0 package, you'll find a large metal shield can, which covers the wireless circuitry on the board and protects it from external interference. Like all Raspberry Pi products since 3B+, Zero 2 W has FCC modular certification, which reduces the compliance workload involved in incorporating it into an end product.
The VideoCore IV GPU is unchanged, as is the 512 MB RAM capacity of the original Zero. The wireless chipset may be improved slightly from its new design, and Bluetooth 4.2 is supported. A 5V/2.5A power supply is recommended.
Also at CNX Software and The Register.
Related: Radxa Zero: Raspberry Pi Zero W on Steroids
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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
(Score: 3, Interesting) by canopic jug on Thursday October 28 2021, @02:27PM (4 children)
The power requirements have crept up quite a bit. The release information does not say how much current it draws but the new power supply is 2.5 A. It's use in portable devices and projects will have a much shorter run time if the current draw is even higher than the regular Zero series. I guess the projects which require rather low power requirements will use the Pico [soylentnews.org] microcontroller instead. Those looking for even less draw will have to turn to the ESP32. However, microcontrollers are quite weak and have few options compared to another general-purpose computer like the Zero 2.
The Q&A at the bottom of the summary's link provides a lot of interesting detail.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday October 28 2021, @02:47PM (3 children)
They claim the power supply is "overkill".
I imagine you could disable 3 of the cores and still end up faster than the original at the same clock speed.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Informative) by canopic jug on Thursday October 28 2021, @03:21PM (2 children)
Yes. 2.5 A is obviously overkill. But the extra cores will use something. Digging a bit, it looks like the Zero 2 W will draw 0.6 A [picockpit.com] at maximum compared to the 0.3 A which the Zero W draws.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @08:41PM (1 child)
It's still more power efficient. It will finish whatever it's doing faster than the old one would have and go back to low power sooner. This is the same thing as with the full size 3 vs the single core models.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Reziac on Friday October 29 2021, @03:42AM
ExplainingComputers channel did a comparison benchmark today. The new Pi Zero is about 4.7x faster than the old Pi Zero, by three different tests (boot time, raw CPU exercise, rendering). So for the same work it should use something like 60% as much power.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @02:56PM (3 children)
Whenever I see these announcements, when I go to look into it, I either see them as sold out or not at the low price given in these announcements. Then I say "fuck it" and don't bother looking again. Do I just have bad luck, or is this other people's experience as well?
(Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Thursday October 28 2021, @03:00PM
Availability of the Zero 2 W will specifically be HORRIBLE:
https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/28/pi_zero_2_w/ [theregister.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by canopic jug on Thursday October 28 2021, @03:03PM
It's not just this model. It looks like the Raspberry Pi 4 and the CM4 in all its forms are sold out at all the resellers that I've checked. I found two with some, but not all, Raspberry Pi 4 models but they were limited to one per customer. Some have the Zero 2, but also limit them to one per customer, which is probably a reasonable restriction.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Freeman on Thursday October 28 2021, @04:11PM
Canakit shows shipping November 3rd and PiShop.us shows shipping in 2-3 business days. Both of which are selling the $15 board.
Still, it's not unusual for it to be kind of hard to get your hands on newly released Raspberry Pi hardware.
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: 4, Funny) by Revek on Thursday October 28 2021, @03:14PM (4 children)
If have haven't rest assured you will pay top dollar for it. I blame a guy on reddit who came up with a Simpsons tv complete with build instructions. Then someone made a Futurama knock off and it just got worse from there. Of course I'm probably wrong but the two events line up.
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(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @04:14PM (3 children)
I have two that will sit in my desk unused forever.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @08:07PM (1 child)
Did you buy them to use for something? I've got a bunch of older Pi boards, the 3B+, and I have one as a 3D print server, one for use in electronics work (programmable GPIO pins for rapid dev/test/debug on new ideas), one for retroarch, and so on.
They're fantastic little jobbies, as long as you're buying them with some idea what they're for ..
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday October 29 2021, @03:45AM
I don't have a clue what I'd do with one, which is why I haven't bought any. But they are an interesting little critter, and someday perhaps I'll find a use for one. By then they'll be so common as to be disposable, and we'll find them lying around like gum wrappers.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by BeaverCleaver on Friday October 29 2021, @03:56AM
If the stories of "shortages" are to be believed, you could get rid of them on eBay and make a profit.