What is the Raspberry Pi 4? Everything you need to know about the tiny, low-cost computer

Educational Engineering Team

What is the Raspberry Pi 4?

The Raspberry Pi 4 is a great device for many different purposes. It’s low cost allows it to be used by individuals looking to get into programming or STEM careers to start building skills at home without having to invest in costly material. It has plenty of input options, including an HDMI port and four micro USB ports which can be used for power or

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has released a new version of its flagship model, the Raspberry Pi 4. In addition to the models that come with 2GB and 4GB of RAM, there’s a new 8GB model. … You’ll be able to run applications that require more RAM, whether you use the Raspberry Pi to run a server or as a desktop computer.

What is the Raspberry Pi 4?

What are the specifications of the Raspberry Pi 4?

The new Raspberry Pi 4 was released on June 24, 2019.

Specifications as

  • Broadcom BCM2711, Quad core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.5GHz
  • 1GB, 2GB or 4GB LPDDR4-2400 SDRAM (depending on model)
  • 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz IEEE 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 5.0, BLE
  • Gigabit Ethernet
  • 2 USB 3.0 ports; 2 USB 2.0 ports.
  • Raspberry Pi standard 40 pin GPIO header (fully backwards compatible with previous boards)
  • 2 × micro-HDMI ports (up to 4kp60 supported)
  • 2-lane MIPI DSI display port
  • 2-lane MIPI CSI camera port
  • 4-pole stereo audio and composite video port
  • H.265 (4kp60 decode), H264 (1080p60 decode, 1080p30 encode)
  • OpenGL ES 3.0 graphics
  • Micro-SD card slot for loading operating system and data storage
  • 5V DC via USB-C connector (minimum 3A*)
  • 5V DC via GPIO header (minimum 3A*)
  • Power over Ethernet (PoE) enabled (requires separate PoE HAT)
  • Operating temperature: 0 – 50 degrees C ambient

* A good quality 2.5A power supply can be used if downstream USB peripherals consume less than 500mA in total.

What is the difference between Raspberry Pi 3 and Raspberry Pi 4?

Here’s a full list of the Raspberry Pi 4’s improvements over its predecessor, the Raspberry Pi 3 B+:

  • Quad-core 1.5GHz Broadcom CPU, up from 1.4GHz in the previous model.
  • 500MHz VideoCore VI GPU, up from 400MHz previously.
  • A USB Type-C port for power, rather than Micro USB.
  • Two Micro HDMI ports which can power two 4K monitors at 30fps, or a single 4K monitor at 60fps alongside a 1080p display.
  • Two USB 3 ports and two USB 2 ports, up from four USB 2 ports.
  • A Gigabit Ethernet port which is no longer throttled by a USB interface.
  • Bluetooth 5.0 rather than 4.1.
  • Dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi.
  • A microSD storage card with a theoretical maximum transfer rate of 50 Mbps, up from 25 Mbps.
  • A 40 pin GPIO connector with support for three more interfaces; I2C, SPI, and UART.

The Raspberry Pi 4 is available starting today with either 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB of RAM for $35, $45, and $55, respectively.

What operating system does Raspberry Pi 4 use?

Thanks for the A2A.

This is a common misconception, typically assumed by users of Windows and MacOS. That there could be a best. There is no one-fits-all best.

Windows and MacOS are take it or leave it operating systems. You either accept and use them as they are or you don’t use them. It’s more or less one-fits-all, trying to cater to everyone (to some extent).

In the business world and among professionals, Linux is one that is often used. Which is the default on ARM and therefore for single board computers too. And I don’t call it an operating system intentionally, because it is not.

Linux is an operating system core, a kernel. And around it is a modular system of tools. The whole point of all the different options out there is purpose and taste. And both are SUBJECTIVE, not objective. So, there CANNOT BE an objective best! The whole point of Linux is, to adjust it to your own purpose and taste. That’s why there are tons of distros and GUIs and applications out there and a number of package management systems.

What are you going to use your Raspberry for? Server? Home automation? Media player? Gaming console? Development?…

Unlike with Windows or MacOS, there is no one-fits-all answer.

For example, most people use something default like Raspbian. Because it’s the default and it has the community.

Personally, I own more than 20 PIs and have like 10 running around the clock. And given my daily on desktop is Arch Linux, I too use Arch Linux on ALL of my PIs.

You might run into certain problems though. That depends a lot on the distro and it’s maintenance, as well as the purpose you use it for. DNS caching server? Works fine. Printer server? Well, works fine as long as it does. Not a software problem though. IRC server? Works fine. Media player? Well, a few crashes every now and then, but otherwise works fine. Again, not a problem with the operating system. Small JSON API? Works fine. WordPress… well, not so great. NextCloud? That one has given me the most grief over time. One problem chases the other from small to big. I think it has never really been free of problems entirely. Honestly? The maintenance for ARM is certainly not the same as it is for desktop and it obviously doesn’t get the same attention.

I took me quite a while to find a working image for my Banana Pi M3. So, I had to use Ubuntu first. While I did use it on desktop for a while (and meanwhile it sucks there too), it was really underwhelming on the Pi. While it did work and had sufficient hardware support, the setup was pretty much useless. On one hand GUI for ease of use. On the other hand barely any useful applications at all. I think, installing additional packages didn’t really work that well either.

Raspbian? Not sure I ever used it at all. But I’m definitely not a fan of Debian on desktop. It’s not a coincidence, that a free community option is being used with a development board that was meant to be used to teach kids in poor countries about computers. It’s even less a coincidence now, since Google has switched from Ubuntu to Debian and has partnered with the vendors of the Raspberries. But just because it’s popular, doesn’t mean it’s automatically “the best” (for your purpose) too. So, try the options and judge them for yourself and with your own purpose in mind.

What you expect from the Raspberry Pi 4 model B?

Raspberry Pi 4 should have

  • Same 35$ price point .
  • A better quad core like Snapdragon 820 series .
  • At least 2GB of RAM .
  • RAM should be DDR3 not DDR2
  • A Gigabit Ethernet port .
  • USB 3.0 if possible
  • Open source files about GPU
  • Better GPU Clock speed
  • Last but not the least I’ll like to see this on Raspberry.
So in short
A better processor, maybe twice as much RAM, and a dedicated chip for USB 3.0 type A. And maybe a extra type C. Unlike how it is now, which it shares the bandwidth with the ethernet port.
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