The Raspberry Pi Foundation introduces the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4). Like its predecessor CM3, it is intended for use as an embedded system in other devices and from 25 US dollars available. Overall, there are 25 variants with or without WLAN adapter, without or with up to 32 GByte eMMC-Flash as well as with 1, 2, 4 or 8 GByte RAM.

Compared to the CM3 and its predecessor CM, the CM4 has a different, significantly smaller connector. In order to be able to use a CM4 on a CM3 base board, adapters are available, for example from Gumstix.

Raspi mastermind Eben Upton announces the CM4 in a blog on. Accordingly, the same ARM SoC Broadcom BCM 2711 with four Cortex-A sits on the CM4 – Cores like on the Raspberry Pi 4. However, the USB 3.0 controller is missing. Instead, a PCI Express 2.0 lane (PCIe 2.0 x1) can be used. A USB 3.0 adapter could be retrofitted on a baseboard.

Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4) (6 images) Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 IO Board with attached CM4 and PCIe-x1 socket.

(Image: Raspberry Pi Foundation) The cheapest lite versions of the CM4 come without eMMC Flash and without a WLAN adapter . Gigabit Ethernet is always included.

The in-house “IO Board” of the Raspberry Pi Foundation should be 35 dollars. It does not have a USB 3.0 controller, but a PCIe x1 socket for a PCI Express card.

It also provides the Raspi-typical 40 – pin header ready as well as microSD card reader, Ethernet socket, two HDMI sockets, two USB 2.0 sockets, one 12 – Volt power connection, DSI and CSI connections for camera and display as well a battery-backed real-time clock (RTC).

Alternative IO boards Other providers will bring out their own CM4 base boards, also known as break-out boards. Gumstix, for example, offers the 72 dollar Raspberry Pi CM4 Development Board, which includes an M.2 version for has an M.2 – 2280 – SSD.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation also sells an antenna kit for the CM4.

Actually, the Compute Module is intended for installation in others Devices whose developers design their own base boards for this purpose. The Raspberry Pi Foundation provides the necessary design data in KiCad format. For the C