Four years on the market, eight million units sold, an incredible cost-benefit ratio, and a true revolution in the DIY world. All this and much more has become associated with the name Raspberry Pi, which now enters in its third version with several hardware adjustments. In addition to receiving a SoC with 50 percent extra performance over version 2, the Raspberry Pi 3 finally incorporates wireless support through WiFi "n" and Bluetooth Low Energy.
A brief history
There is little left to say about the potential of the Raspberry Pi. Thanks to its excellent cost and a formidable participation from its community, the platform keeps accumulating successes. Its official launch took place on February 29, 2012, and since then eight million units have been distributed, of which three million belong to its second generation. Obviously, the Raspberry Pi is not perfect, and in these last four years users have challenged the limits of its hardware with creativity and additional investments. One of the platform's great weaknesses was the absence of integrated WiFi support, a costly technical aspect, mainly because of certifications. With the official debut of the Raspberry Pi 3, that is in the past.
Hardware upgrades
The new compact computer (in its version B) maintains the same format as version 2, with a minimal change in the position of the LEDs to make room for the new antenna. The new SoC of the Raspberry Pi 3 is a Broadcom BCM2837, which retains the same basic architecture of previous SoCs, but deploys four cores at 1.2 GHz with 64-bit support. This jump in clock speed should reflect a 50-60 percent increase in performance over the Raspberry Pi 2 under 32-bit applications, and on average, it is equivalent to 10 times the performance of the original Raspberry Pi. Wireless connectivity on the Raspberry Pi 3 comes thanks to the Broadcom BCM43438, a "combo" chip capable of offering WiFi "n" and Bluetooth 4.1 Low Energy at the same time.
Memory, power and price
RAM memory is 1 GB, and its power requirements have increased: Now, a 2.5A power supply is recommended. As for price, there are no changes: It is $35 at leading official distributors, such as RS Components and Element14.
A solid update
In short, the Raspberry Pi 3 finally cancels its wireless connectivity debt, and by maintaining its original price, it positions itself as a solid upgrade. The official Raspberry site added to the announcement that previous Raspberry Pi models will not be discontinued, and that there will be a Raspberry Pi 3 series A before the end of the year.
