Raspberry Pi 5 - When and What to Expect

The Raspberry Pi 4 Model B is now available, and we will show you how to update it over-the-air with Yocto Dunfel, Zeus and Warrior releases. You can still get a sneak peek at Raspberry Pi 5 if you read on...

A Raspberry Pi 5 computer. What will it even be called? Which features might it offer? We gathered the most intelligent preview points.

Because the Raspberry Pi Foundation has not yet announced an official release date, there has been some speculation (and guesswork) as to what the next version of the single board computer might look like in embedded systems.

Raspberry Pi Foundation is not saying much about what its next generation single board computer module will include. We can safely say that we do not know when the next Raspberry Pi will be released.

There is little or no information available in the user forums about what specification may be included in the next generation of the Pi hardware. If users were to engage in idle gossip, they would likely be kicked off!

A LinuxHint article was published in March 2021 with some intelligent guesses about what the new Pi 5 might include based on emerging hardware standards and roadmap progressions, as well as some obvious challenges that some early Raspberry Pi models faced.

Move over Raspbian, enter Raspberry Pi 5 OS

In the opinion of LinuxHint journalist Glynis Navarette, it is almost certain that the new Pi 5 will run the Raspberry Pi 5 operating system. Based on Debian, the new OS can run both 32-bit and 64-bit systems and can run 64-bit applications. Goodbye, Raspbian!

2Ghz CPU and counting upwards

Navarette expects that the Broadcom-ARM quad-core processor that powers the Pi 5 may exceed 2GHz in speed. As for increasing the system memory, the new Pi 5 might sport up to 16GB of the latest generation LPDDR5 SDRAM. A new cooling system might also accompany the extra power and performance.

USB C in sharp focus

The onboard heating system and the design of the USB C power port could be improved. As a matter of fact, the USB C power supply should be greatly improved in the Pi 5 since the design was revised and corrected in revised boards of the current Pi 4 model. As a result of backward compatibility, USB 3 ports are likely to be supported in the new model as well.

Could eMMC be useful here? A microSD card that is currently used to hold the operating system and provide storage may be replaced with eMMC memory because of its increased read/write capabilities, data protection, and durability. In this scenario, the eMMC would be integrated into the board.

The Gigabit Ethernet and dual band wi-fi of the latest generation Raspberry Pi were both major advancements, and these great connectivity options will probably remain when the Pi 5 is released.

Dedicated to the display

Additionally, the display interface could also be a big focus for the Pi 5, with the possibility of dual display output over two HDMI ports. According to speculation, the 4K video playback refresh rate will remain at 60 Hz, even with two monitors connected. Bluetooth and Bluetooth for low powered devices are taken for granted nowadays, so we can expect support for the 5.2 version as well.

Conclusion

In summary, the Raspberry Pi Foundation is not saying what the next generation SBC will look like. While there is little to be found in the forums from engaged users, a look at historical challenges and the naturally developing hardware roadmap can help paint a picture of what we can expect from the next Raspberry Pi.

As soon as Raspberry Pi 5 software updates are available, Mender will provide an OTA software updates integration. Do you want OTA updates to be integrated into your Raspberry-based SBC for your embedded project now in POC or production? Let us help advise you.