To everyone's surprise, the Raspberry Pi Foundation today announced the launch of next-gen Raspberry Pi 2 Model B featuring a brand new 900MHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 CPU, a major upgrade to the existing Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+, while also keeping the prices unchanged. Raspberry Pi 2 is now on sale for $35, the same price as the existing Model B+.
Raspberry Pi 2 Model B: Big changes, same price!
The new Raspberry Pi 2 Model B comes with a 900MHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 CPU and 1 GB of RAM boasting 6 times the performance of previous gen model. Since it has an ARMv7 processor, it can run the full range of ARM GNU/Linux distributions, including Snappy Ubuntu Core, as well as Microsoft Windows 10.
Broadcom's new SoC, BCM2836 still retains all the features of older BCM2835 SoC, but replaces the single 700MHz ARM11 with a 900MHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 complex. As a result, compatibility and stability won't take a hit, promises the team.
Speaking to The Register last week, foundation head honcho Eben Upton said: "I think it's a usable PC now. It was always the case that you could use a Raspberry Pi 1 as a PC but you had to say 'this is a great PC in so far as it cost me 35 bucks'. We've removed the caveat that you had to be a bit forgiving with it. Now it's just good." See detailed report on The Register.