After the Raspberry Pi foundation officially announced Raspberry Pi Model B+ board, it was natural to expect a Model A+ to come soon after. Based on a webpage on Element14 (now down), an update of the cheapest version of the Raspberry Pi could get announced very soon, maybe as soon as Monday. It has specifications very similar to Model A, but replaces the 26-pin GPIO connector, by a 40-pin connector, a micro SD slot takes the place of a full-sized SD slot, and power management has been improved so that it’s more efficient, and can support “power hungry” USB devices. [Update: It’s now officially announced as planned]

I’ve drawn a comparison table between the latest two boards: Model B+ vs Model A+.

Raspberry Pi

Model B+ Raspberry Pi

Model A+ SoC Broadcom BCM2835 ARM11 processor @ 700MHz with VideoCore IV GPU System Memory 512 MB (PoP) 256 MB (PoP) Storage micro SD card slot AV Output HDMI and 3.5 mm AV jack Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet N/A USB 4x USB 2.0 host port +

micro USB port 1x USB 2.0 host port +

micro USB port Expansion 40-pin header for GPIO

CSI interface

DSI interface Power 5V via micro USB port Power Consumption 600 mA to 1.8 A @ 5V TBD but lower Dimensions 85 x 56 mm 65 x 56 mm

Price $35 $20

Beside the price Model A+ should also have lower power consumption, but Element14 simply mentions “A+ board now uses less power (600mA) than the Model A Board (750mA) when running.”, but this conflicts with R-Pi B+ page listed Model B+ drawing 600 mA, against Model B 750 mA, and model A drawing the same 600 mA. So it’s either a mistake, or a different power measurement scenario. Model A+ board is also smaller than Model B+, and based on a different PCB.

Price has not been announced yet, but I fully expect it to still cost $25 but some now deleted pages listed it for $20. We should know more in the next few days.

Raspberry Pi Model A+ can be purchased for $20 on MCM Electronics or Farnell/element14/Newark.

