This tag is for questions about the difference between models, e.g. A, A+, B, B+, 2B, 3B, 3B+, 3A+, 4B, Zero, Zero W and Compute Module.
All Models come with:
- HDMI out (except compute module)
- Either 26 (A, B) or 40 (A+, B+, 2 B, 3 B, 3 B+, 3 A+, Zero, Zero W) breakout connections, including those for GPIO, 3.3 and 5 V power, ground, UART, SPI, and I2C buses. The compute module uses a DDR2 SODIMM connector as opposed to a pin or hole type breakout.
- SD or mini-SD card slot (except for compute module which has a user programmable onboard 4GByte eMMC memory device)
- Micro USB 5V powered (except compute module)
- VideoCore IV GPU
The A, B, A+, B+, and compute modules come with a single core, ARMv6 based BCM2835 processor rated at 700 MHz.
The Pi 2 (aka. "2 B") comes with a quad-core, ARMv7 based BCM2836 processor rated at 900 MHz. The Pi 3 (aka. "3 B") has a quad-core, ARMv7 based BCM2837 processor rated at 1.2 GHz. The Pi 3 B+ and 3 A+ have a quad-core, ARMv8 based BCM2837B0 at 1.4 GHz. The Pi 4 ("4 B") has a Broadcom BCM2711, Quad core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC at 1.5 GHz.
The Pi Zero and Zero W come with a single core, ARMv6 based BCM2835 processor rated at 1 GHz.
Other key differences between the models (note that RAM must be shared with the GPU):
Model A
- 1 USB 2.0 port
- 256 MB RAM
- Lower power consumption than model B
- 3.5mm audio jack
- RCA composite video out
- CSI camera interface
- DSI display interface
- 17 GPIO Pins in main Header
- 6-hole secondary breakout including 2nd I2C bus
Model A+
- 1 USB 2.0 port
- 256 MB RAM
- Lower power consumption than model A
- 3.5mm 4-pole audio/video out
- CSI camera interface
- DSI display interface
- 26 GPIO Pins in main Header
Model B
- 2 USB 2.0 ports
- 512 MB RAM (256 MB on pre 2012/10/16 versions)
- Ethernet
- 3.5mm audio jack
- RCA composite video out
- CSI camera interface
- DSI display interface
- 17 GPIO Pins in main Header
- 6-hole secondary breakout including 2nd I2C bus
Model B+
- 4 USB 2.0 ports
- 512 MB RAM
- Lower power consumption compared to model B
- 3.5mm 4-pole audio/video out
- Ethernet
- CSI camera interface
- DSI display interface
- 26 GPIO Pins in main Header
2 Model B
- 1 GB RAM
- 4 USB 2.0 ports
- 3.5mm 4-pole audio/video out
- Ethernet
- CSI camera interface
- DSI display interface
- 26 GPIO Pins in main Header
Zero
- 512 MB of RAM
- Mini (as opposed to standard) HDMI socket
- One Micro-USB OTG port
- Pinless 40 GPIO header (i.e., just holes) - 26 GPIO connections.
- Connectionless (Composite) Video header.
- As of 2016/05/16, version 1.3 has a "mini" CSI-2 camera interface - which is the same as used for the Compute Module I/O Board {needs a mini-to-standard flexible connector to use with RPi camera modules}.
Zero W
- 512 MB of RAM
- On-board Wireless LAN - 2.4 GHz 802.11 b/g/n (BCM43438)
- On-board Bluetooth 4.1 + HS Low-energy (BLE) (BCM43438)
- Mini (as opposed to standard) HDMI socket
- One Micro-USB OTG port
- Pinless 40 GPIO header (i.e., just holes) - 26 GPIO connections.
- Connectionless (Composite) Video header.
- a "mini" CSI-2 camera interface - which is the same as used for the Compute Module I/O Board {needs a mini-to-standard flexible connector to use with RPi camera modules}.
Compute Module
- no explicit ports or connectors - all connections made via SO-DIMM connector - some connectors are provided on a separate "Development" I/O Board
- 2 USB port connections (One is for programming / booting)
- 45 GPIO connections (+2 also used internally) available
- 512 MB of RAM
- 2x CSI-2 I/F for Raspberry Pi camera modules
- 2x DSI I/F for Raspberry Pi displays
- Composite Video output
- DDR2 SO-DIMM form factor
3 Model B (released February 2016)
- 1 GB RAM
- 4 USB 2.0 ports
- 3.5mm 4-pole audio/video out
- Ethernet, WiFi and Bluetooth (replaces 2/4 USB Outputs MicroChip LAN9512/14 devices on other B models with Broadcomm's own BCM43143)
- CSI camera interface
- DSI display interface
- 26 GPIO Pins in main Header
3 Model B+ (released March 2018)
- 1 GB RAM
- 4 USB 2.0 ports
- 3.5mm 4-pole audio/video out
- Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz 802.11b/g/n/ac) and Bluetooth (Bluetooth 4.2, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE))
- CSI camera interface
- DSI display interface
- 26 GPIO Pins in main Header
3 Model A+ (released November 2018)
- 512 MB RAM
- 1 USB 2.0 port
- 3.5mm 4-pole audio/video out
- WiFi (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz 802.11b/g/n/ac) and Bluetooth (Bluetooth 4.2, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE))
- CSI camera interface
- DSI display interface
- 26 GPIO Pins in main Header
4 Model B (released June 2019)
- 1/2/4 GB RAM (options)
- 2 USB 2.0 ports
- 2 USB 3.0 ports
- Micro (as opposed to standard) HDMI socket
- 3.5mm 4-pole audio/video out
- Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz 802.11ac) and Bluetooth (Bluetooth 5.0, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE))
- dual HDMI (micro connector) supporting 2x 4kp60 displays
- CSI camera interface
- DSI display interface
- PoE enabled
- 26 GPIO Pins in main Header