THe Raspberry Pi foundation has launched the latest iteration of its entry-level barebones computer, the Raspberry Pi A+ - a £20 successor to the original Model A that shrinks down in size but gains even more electronics flexibility with extra connectivity.
Announced on the official Raspberry Pi blog this morning, the Model A+ represents a leap forward for the foundation, whose original plan to build an ARM Linux box for $25 was deemed 'ambitious' back in 2011. The price has been brought down by a further $5, and the new board will be manufactured at the same UK-based plant used to build the more powerful Model B+ board.
Now just 55x65mm, compared to the orignal Model A's 55x86mm, the Model A+ is far more compact than any previous Pi and is the first board not to use credit card-style dimensions. Little has changed in terms of layout from the Model B+ released in July; it's still fully compatible with Rapberry Pi Hat add-on boards, and thanks to the size reduction no parts of the base board stick out underneath the Hat.
The board has received several upgrades, including redesigned audio circuitry with a new, low-noise power supply, a MicroSD card slot on the underside of the board rather than the full-size SD card seen in the original, and an additional 14 GPIO pin outs, bringing the total up to 40.
Although it uses the same Broadcom BCM2835 system-on-chip (SoC) processor and 256MB of RAM as its predecessor, the Model A+ uses 20-25% less power than the original Model A - potentially making it suitable for even more compact, battery-powered builds versus the original.
The Raspberry Pi Model A+ is available to buy now for £20 in the UK from Farnell, or $20 in the US from MCM.
