The brand new Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ is here!

Just announced is the brand new Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+. We know you’re all ultra-excited when a new Pi board lands, so we wanted to take a quick look and tell you all about it!

We’re confident you’ll love it as much as we do!

It sits on the same footprint as the original Raspberry Pi Model A+, with overall dimensions of 65 x 56mm. While size-wise it fits in between the Model B+ and the Zero boards, it’s more like a mini B+ than a super-sized Zero W.

HOW IT COMPARES TO THE B+

Sometimes it’s hard to see what the differences are at first glance, because there are some striking similarities.

In some ways, you can think of this as a more powerful Raspberry Pi Zero W. While it shares the same core processor as the RPi 3 Model B+, it doesn’t have the same level of connectivity.

It uses the same 1.4GHz quad-core processor the B+ uses, so you’re not running short in processing power.

The available RAM is half that of a B+, sitting at 512MB for the A+ compared to 1GB for the B+. Maximum frame rate for graphics is also capped at 30fps, though it’s still Full HD 1080p and likely suitable for most applications.

Importantly, there’s still a full-sized HDMI output and single USB A port, as well as audio output. However, there’s no Ethernet port, and as suggested earlier, three-less USB ports, but this is often of little consequence.

While the loaded power consumption of the A+ is fairly similar to the B+, its idle power consumption is lower. Some full testing still needs to be done on different benchmarks.

Importantly, WiFi and Bluetooth functionality is still right up there with the B+, featuring 5GHz and 2.4GHz WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2 / BLE capabilities.

The Model A+ sits squarely between the RPi Zero options and the fully-optioned Model B+. The lower power consumption and reduced footprint make it well suited for smaller portable applications, as well as those running from battery power.

PROCESSOR: Broadcom BCM2837B0, Cortex-A53 64-bit SoC @ 1.4GHz

MEMORY: 512MB LPDDR2 SDRAM

CONNECTIVITY: 2.4GHz and 5GHz IEE 802.11.b/g/n/ac wireless LAN, Bluetooth 4.2/BLE

ACCESS: Extended 40-pin GPIO header

VIDEO & SOUND: 1 × full-size HDMI, MIPI DSI display port, MIPI CSI camera port, 4 pole stereo output and composite video port

INPUT POWER: 5V/2.5A DC via micro USB connector 5V DC via GPIO header

Raspberry Pi available at Core Electronics:

• Raspberry Pi 3 MODEL A+ CE05971 $38.23