Appendix F: Raspberry Pi specifications

The various components and features of a computer are known as its specifications, and a look at the specifications gives you the information you need to compare two computers. These specifications can seem confusing at first, are highly technical, and you don’t need to know them to use a Raspberry Pi, but they are included here for the curious reader.

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B’s system-on-chip is a Broadcom BCM2711B0, which you’ll see written on its metal lid if you look closely enough. This features four 64-bit ARM Cortex-A72 central processing unit (CPU) cores, each running at 1.5GHz (1.5 thousand million cycles per second), and a Broadcom VideoCore VI (Six) graphics processing unit (GPU) running at 500MHz (500 million cycles per second) for video tasks and for 3D rendering tasks such as games.

The system-on-chip is connected to 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB (one, two, or four thousand million bytes) of LPDDR4 (Low-Power Double-Data-Rate 4) RAM (random-access memory), which runs at 3,200MHz (three thousand two hundred million cycles per second). This memory is shared between the central processor and the graphics processor. The microSD card slot supports up to 512GB (512 thousand million bytes) of storage.

The Ethernet port supports up to gigabit (1000Mbps, 1000-Base-T) connections, while the radio supports 802.11ac WiFi networks running on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands, Bluetooth 5.0, and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connections.

Wireless / Bluetooth Systemon-Chip RAM GPIO PoE Ethernet port

DSI

USB Type-C power in MicroHDMI 0 MicroHDMI 1 Camera Audio/ Video USB 3.0 USB 2.0

Broken down into a bullet list, those specifications look like this:

n CPU: 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 at 1.5GHz

n GPU: VideoCore VI at 500MHz

n RAM: 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB of LPDDR4

n Networking: Gigabit Ethernet, dual-band 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, Bluetooth Low Energy

n Audio/Video Outputs: 3.5 mm analogue AV jack, 2 × micro-HDMI 2.0

n Peripheral Connectivity: 2 × USB 2.0 ports, 2 × USB 3.0 ports, Camera Serial Interface, Display Serial Interface (DSI)

n Storage: microSD, up to 512GB

n Power: 5 volts at 3 amps via USB Type-C

n Extras: 40-pin GPIO header, Power over Ethernet compatibility (with additional hardware)