Raspberry Pi 5: Release date, technical data, price - everything you need to know

The announcement of the Raspberry Pi 5 in October 2023 put an end to the speculation and rumors about the new addition. In this post, we've compiled the most important information about the latest model - and what it means for you. The good news? The Pi 5 is a handy and powerful little device that's perfect for home computing projects and DIY builds, and offers a low (cost) barrier to entry. Here's what you need to know.

The Raspberry Pi 5 will begin shipping on October 23, 2023. The official announcement for the Pi 5 only mentioned the month, but in the last week of October, the new Raspberry Pi arrived in the wild. Pre-order lists gave some users priority access, while the exact delivery of the new models depends on retailers.

More than four years have passed since the release of the Raspberry Pi 4. This is the longest gap ever between two models - the usual gap is 1-2 years. The delay is due in no small part to global economic factors and the availability of chips, as well as the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed the development of the new model.

Raspberry Pi has historically made significant improvements with each new iteration of its system. The simplicity of the components allows the company to make important improvements while keeping costs low. Due to the consistent development of the base, we expect significant improvements for the next iteration of the silicon-up system. The new Raspberry Pi features an in-house developed 64-bit quad-core Arm Cortex A76 processor running at 2.4 GHz - a significant step up from the 1.5 GHz of the 2019 Raspberry Pi 4. This is a consistent step forward (see table below) and means that the new "5" has twice the processing power.
However, the new processor is not only faster, it also consumes less power. This means that it can work more efficiently in terms of $ per watt and is also cooler. In interviews, Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton stated that the new Raspberry Pi 5B should have a significant improvement in CPU, memory and connectivity - and we have all three

The Pi 5's CPU is supported by a VIDEOCORE VII GPU for improved graphics performance and two four-lane, 1.5Gbps MIPI transceivers. This means that the Pi 5 can potentially power 2 x 4K60 display outputs (with HDR support) and up to two cameras - that's some serious power for a tiny piece of tech.

In terms of RAM, the new version offers up to 8GB of LPDDR4X-4267 SDRAM. That's not the step up to LPDDR5 SDRAM we were expecting, but it's faster and more power efficient than the 8GB LPDDR4 SDRAM of its predecessor. And that's not all: the Pi 5 is available with 4GB and 8GB, offering flexibility for specific use cases (and budgets - see the "Price" section below). Also important are the new on-board power button and the self-developed RP1 Southbridge. This supplies the single-lane PCIe port for PCIe and NVMe devices. Although this allows "high-bandwidth peripherals" to be connected to the Pi 5, the Raspberry Pi Foundation points out that an adapter is required to use it.

It was to be expected that the price of the Raspberry Pi 5 would rise somewhat. This has proved to be the case and is normal given the improved performance and features compared to the company's previous models. The exact recommended retail prices for the Pi 5, as stated by the Raspberry Pi Foundation itself, are as follows:

Raspberry Pi 5 (4 GB variant) - $60
Raspberry Pi 5 (8 GB variant) - $80

In comparison, the Pi 4 costs $55 for the 4GB variant and $75 for the 8GB variant. The Raspberry Pi Foundation has made various efforts to maintain a consistent entry-level price for each of its new B-category devices. Since the launch of the Raspberry Pi 1B, we have seen a starting price of $35. However, considering the improvements in the new iteration, the slight increase in price makes sense. Of course, there are also accessories available for the Raspberry Pi 5 if you want to think about additional costs. And these are the prices:

The Raspberry Pi Case for Raspberry Pi 5 ($10)
Raspberry Pi Active Cooler ($45)

Coming soon.