Raspberry Pi 4 released

Without warning the Raspberry Pi foundation released the Raspberry Pi4.

I have yet to get one and most suppliers are limiting orders at the moment. Once I have one I will be sure to update the blog.


Specs
Quad core ARM Cortex A72 SoC (System on a chip) @ 1.5GHz
Memory comes in 1, 2 or 4GB of DDR4-2400
WiFi (2.4GHz and 5GHz)
Bluetooth 5 BLE
Gigabit ethernet
2 x USB 3 ports
2 x USB 2 ports
2 x MicroHDMI outputs
MIPI DSI display port
MIPI CSI camera port
Stereo audio and composite video output
MicroSD card slot
Power is 3 amps via a USB type C connector


Changes from the Pi 3 model B+
The 3B+ has a quad core ARM Cortex A53 SoC @ 1.4GHz
The 3B+ only came with 1GB of DDR2 memory
Bluetooth has updated from 4.2 to 5
The 3B+ ethernet only ran at 330 Mbit
The 3B+ has 4 x USB 2 ports
The 3B+ has a single HDMI port
Power is 2.5 amps via a MicroUSB connector


The executive summary
For those that don't want to read the reviews, it comes is a range of memory sizes (1GB, 2GB and 4GB). The price is the same for the base (1GB) model at 35 USD. Its the same form factor as before however connectors are different so you can't use your old case and power supply. Its of course faster.

On the negative side it produces a LOT more heat and you have to run Buster on it, which is due to be officially released in a couple of weeks time. It has a number of software compatibility issues at the moment.


Some links
Here's the link to the official Raspberry Pi site: https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-4-model-b/

Here is a review by Toms Hardware: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/raspberry-pi-4-b,6193.html


Update #1 (6th of June)
I went to order one. The only stock available from either of the two Australian suppliers are the 1GB models. I could pre-order the 2GB or 4GB models however there is no ETA. They don't have any USB C power supplies, I can't even pre-order them. I will try again in another week or two.


Update #2 (14th of July)
I managed to order two of the 4GB versions, cases and official USB C power adapters. They are on back-order with an ETA of September.

22nd of June

The cluster is still running 24/7. All nodes are doing Einstein BRP4 work.

Another one of the 5 port USB chargers gave up. Running 4 Pi3B+ and a pair of fans was too much. I noticed when all the power LEDs went off on one of the cases. The chargers are only rated for 3 x 2 amps and 2 x 1 amp output. I put two of the Pis onto the additional charger and that seems to have made it happy for the moment.

I really need to find something that can run 4 Pi3B+ (in theory 10 amps) plus the fans (1 amp). The only things I can find on the net suggest using multi-port chargers, which is what I have been doing or converting a PC power supply. I'm surprised nobody has come up with a suitable product designed for clusters of Raspberry Pis.