The Raspberry Pi is back. Not that it has been gone in the meantime, but RS Components is now offering the latest version of the single-board computer. This is the Pi 3 Model B+. The new Raspberry is available together with the official Raspberry Pi case.

The latest product in the successful Raspberry Pi 3 series is based on the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, which is still in production. The new board is aimed at a wide range of users, including students and enthusiasts as well as experienced engineers and professionals developing innovative applications for the Internet of Things.

Versatile multimedia processor
The Model B + board is based on the latest version of the Broadcom BCM2837 system-on-chip processor with a clock frequency of 1.4 GHz. This makes it more than 10 percent faster than the processor in the current Raspberry Pi 3 Model B. The BCM2837 is a quad-core processor that combines an ARM A53 processor core cluster with the 64-bit ARMv8 instruction set. The processor's multimedia capabilities include support for H.264, MPEG-4 decoding (1080p30), H.264 encoding (1080p30) and OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0 graphics.

The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ with housing.

The board also features 1 GB LPDDR2 SDRAM memory and the latest wireless combo chip from Cypress Semiconductor. This enables Wi-Fi with 2.4 GHz dual band and 5.0 GHz according to IEEE802.11ac. In addition, it is designed for Bluetooth 4.1 for Bluetooth Low Energy communication, which allows significantly reduced compliance testing for wireless connections, thereby reducing both costs and time to market. Improved communication performance through Gigabit Ethernet over USB 2.0 is another strength of the new Raspberry Pi. This enables a maximum throughput of 300 Mbit/s via the board's four USB 2.0 ports. There is also an extensive 40-pin GPIO (General Purpose Input/Output) pin header connection. The audio/video connections include HDMI and MIPI DSI/CSI display and camera connections as well as a four-pin stereo output and composite video connection.

Compared to previous Raspberry Pi versions, the new board offers improved heat management. At the same time, however, it also retains many of the features and capabilities of the previous generation. One example is the small footprint of 85 x 56 mm. This makes it suitable for the current official Raspberry Pi housing as well as for many other third-party housings on the market.

Increased processing power
"With the increase in processing and communication power, the Raspberry Pi has once again evolved," said Lindsley Ruth, Chief Executive Officer of Electrocomponents. "It is an honor for RS to continue our partnership with the Raspberry Pi Foundation. In doing so, we and the Raspberry Pi Foundation are providing new capabilities to individual users as well as organizations looking to develop applications for the IoT and other innovative concepts and designs."