DevBoard Watch: Say hello to the Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+
Like the Model B+, it provides 1.4GHz processing (quad core Arm Cortex-A53) and 5GHz wireless networking, but all in a smaller form factor.
You can’t have everything, of course, so there is less memory (512MB instead of 1GB) and the USB hub and Ethernet controller have been removed, meaning there is only one USB port (instead of four).
You can compare A and B sizings below.
Enhancements
The Raspberry Pi foundation writes:
Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ incorporates most of the neat enhancements we made to its big brother, and features:
- A 1.4GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU
- 512MB LPDDR2 SDRAM
- Dual-band 802.11ac wireless LAN and Bluetooth 4.2/BLE
- Improved USB mass-storage booting
- Improved thermal management
Like its big brother, the entire board is certified as a radio module under FCC rules, which in turn will significantly reduce the cost of conformance testing Raspberry Pi–based products.
Model A+ Features
Features of the new board include:
- Broadcom BCM2837B0, Cortex-A53 (ARMv8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.4GHz
- 512MB LPDDR2 SDRAM (Pi 3 Model B+ has 1Gbyte)
- 2.4GHz and 5GHz IEEE 802.11.b/g/n/ac wireless LAN, Bluetooth 4.2/BLE
- Extended 40-pin GPIO header
- Full-size HDMI
- Single USB 2.0 ports (Pi 3 Model B+ has four USB 2.0 ports)
- CSI camera port for connecting a Raspberry Pi Camera Module
- DSI display port for connecting a Raspberry Pi Touch Display
- 4-pole stereo output and composite video port
- Micro SD port for loading your operating system and storing data
- 5V/2.5A DC power input (same as Pi 3 Model B+)
- No Ethernet (Pi 3 Model B+ has Gbit Ethernet (300Mbit/s max)
- 65 x 56mm (Pi 3 Model B+ is 86 x 56mm)
You can read full details on the Raspberry Pi Foundation website.
See also: Meet Raspberry Pi 3 A+, and Raspbian gets a media player