The Compute Module 4 arrived in October 2020, but we all know that was a symbolic arrival. The pandemic chaos and the component crisis turned the CM4 into a real nightmare, and demand was so high that the company sold every unit. Now it's the turn of the Compute Module 5: with the promise of wider availability, this module puts all the power of the Raspberry Pi 5 in a mechanically compatible format with the CM4, enabling quick upgrades in many projects and end products.
A criticism that Raspberry Pi had to face during the pandemic was its decision to prioritize the industry over the general market. From a certain point of view it was inevitable, since approximately 70-80 percent of all Raspberry Pi units are destined for industrial/embedded applications, and there is no logic in ignoring their main customers. However, the pill was very bitter, and the few available Pi units ended up devoured by scalpers. With the launch of the new Compute Module 5, the idea is to leave all those problems behind... and perhaps, restore some good will.
Compute Module 5: An Ultracompact Raspberry Pi 5 for Embedded Solutions
The title is no exaggeration: In the Compute Module 5 we find the same Broadcom BCM2712 chip that is present in the Raspberry Pi 5. That means it has a configuration of four cores at 2.4 GHz under the Cortex-A76 architecture. Memory options are divided into 2, 4 and 8 GB of LPDDR4X-4267 memory, with 16 GB models available from 2025. As for storage, there will be CM5 modules without eMMC (CM5 "Lite"), and with 16 or 32 GB. Something similar happens with wireless support: The standard Compute Module 5 includes WiFi+Bluetooth, but there will also be variants without that hardware.
By far, the most important aspect of the Compute Module 5 is its mechanical compatibility with the previous model. That turns the new module into a drop-in upgrade for the vast majority of the products out there, doubling (or even tripling) CPU and memory performance under certain applications. Logically, compatibility is not 100 percent (some devices may need a firmware update before receiving the new module), but it is very close.
Besides the Compute Module 5, Raspberry Pi updated its IO Board, with very important connectivity improvements, and a price ranging between $20 and $30, depending on the region. So we come to "the" question: How much does the Compute Module 5 cost? Considering that there will be dozens of versions, the most economical module (2 GB, without wireless or storage) starts at $45, while at the other end, the CM5 "full" with wireless, 8 GB of RAM and 64 GB of eMMC, goes up to $95.
Sources: Raspberry Pi, Jeff Geerling on YouTube
