The little computer that could, the Raspberry Pi, has been due for a hardware upgrade for quite some time, but the manufacturers have revealed that the anticipated day likely won’t come until 2017. In order to keep fans satisfied during the wait, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has a few tricks up its sleeve.

The credit-card-sized Raspberry Pi is a special little machine. When used as a controller or brain within a build project, the diminutive size and affordable price make it a mainstay of any do-it-yourselfer’s toolbox; used as a cheap computer, though, the Pi is found wanting. The more powerful of the two models, the $35 Model B sports 512MB of RAM, a 700MHz ARM CPU, an ethernet port, an SD card slot, and two USB 2.0 ports. Essentially, it’s less powerful than a cheap smartphone, and doesn’t perform well as a cheap, everyday desktop — even with the custom Raspbian OS installed. Furthermore, if you intend to use the RasPi as a cheap, everyday desktop, the price skyrockets. The Raspberry Pi Foundation is aware that the Pi — even for its low-powered hardware — is old relative to the rest of the computing world, and is due for an upgrade. The company announced that the upgrade for the next generation of the Raspberry Pi won’t happen for a handful of years, but in the meantime, it’s focusing on beefing up the compatible software library, as well as giving the Model B a modest boost.

Rather than just making the Pi more powerful, the Foundation is first focusing on making it more versatile; it aims to produce the Pi’s official (likely seven-inch) touchscreen display by the end of the year. As for the original Pi, the team will focus on software optimizations, such as improving 3D graphics capabilities, and adding a fully featured HTML5 web browser capable of displaying HD videos. The team is aiming to get the browser into the stock Raspbian in just a few months, but you can test out the beta right now if you’re brave.

Meanwhile, the Foundation has given the Model B an extremely useful upgrade: two more USB 2.0 ports. The limited number of USB ports — two — was one of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of using the RasPi as a casual desktop. The keyboard and mouse would often occupy the two USB slots, which means other peripherals couldn’t really be connected to the device. Most builds would add a USB hub, but that defeated the whole purposes of a credit-card-sized computer that can easily fit anywhere. Now, the new model, dubbed the Model B+, has alleviated the issue. The micro SD card slot has also been upgraded to a standard push-push slot, the audio circuit now employs a dedicated low-noise power supply, and the components have been arranged more efficiently around the board. This does mean that you’ll likely need a new case.

As for what kind of power the Raspberry Pi 2 will bring to the table, that remains a mystery. The team did say it’s aiming for a “higher performance” machine, but considering the low power of the Pi, that higher performance could land anywhere between hardware still less powerful than a cheap smartphone, or something much more capable. We’ve already seen tiny RasPi competitors that pack much more of a punch for a small increase in cost, so anything’s fair game. Considering the breadth of more powerful competitors, though, it’s likely safe to expect the next RasPi to maintain its trademark low cost, but up the power to a competitive level. Until that 2017 date, we’ll have to make do with more capable software and a fancy touchscreen attachment.