The Raspberry Pi 5 series of single-board computers has been replenished with a new and cheaper version – Raspberry Pi 5 with 2 GB of memory costing $50. In 2023, the manufacturer released models with 4 GB of memory costing $60 and 8 GB worth $80.
Image source: Raspberry Pi
In addition to the reduced amount of RAM, the new version also uses an optimized Broadcom BCM2712 processor. It is still manufactured on 16nm technology and offers four 64-bit Arm Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.4GHz. But the manufacturer reduced the cost of its production. The new chip has D0 stepping and is deprived of some functional blocks that were present in the original processor model, but which were not needed in the updated model due to the reduced amount of available RAM.
The budget Raspberry Pi 5 is also equipped with a proprietary RP1 I/O controller and a PCI Express 2.0 interface, like older models. While just 2GB of memory may not make the Raspberry Pi 5 suitable for use in AI-related tasks or as the basis of a full-fledged home media center, the manufacturer is confident that many buyers will definitely find suitable tasks for this single-board computer.