Raspberry Pi 2 Is 6x Faster, Features Quad-Core Chip, 1GB SDRAM
The next version of Raspberry Pi is now available, featuring a 900MHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 CPU and 1GB LPDDR2 SDRAM, for just $35. According to the company, the "entry-level PC" is six times the performance and two times the memory of its predecessor.
Raspberry Pi 2 is also compatible with the first-gen device, which sported 512 MB of RAM, a Broadcom BCM2835 application processor, and a 700MHz ARM11 CPU.
"Since we launched the original Raspberry Pi Model B, back in 2012, we've done an enormous amount of software work to get the best out of our Broadcom BCM2835 application processor and its 700MHz ARM11 CPU," Eben Upton, Raspberry Pi Founder and CEO, wrote in a blog post. "Nonetheless, there comes a point when there's no substitute for more memory and CPU performance."
Workers have spent "thousands of hours" developing firmware and board support "to make Raspberry Pi the most stable single board computer in the world," he said. "It's worth going back and trying out an old SD card image from 2012 to get an idea of how far we've come," according to PC Mag.
The new Raspberry Pi can be purchased from element14 and RS Components. "Remember you'll need an updated NOOBS or Raspbian image including an ARMv7 kernel and modules from our downloads page," Upton added.
The device is also Windows 10 compatible. It will be available for free to the Maker community later this year.
"Raspberry Pi has quickly become one of the Maker community's favorite platforms because their highly capable, low-cost boards and compute modules enable developers to bring their vision to life," Kevin Dallas, general manager of the Windows IoT Group, wrote in a blog post.
"Raspberry Pi 2 is a surprisingly powerful device that opens up the world of computing and programming to a huge range of people and skill levels," Dallas noted.
