In terms of format, the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B is very similar to the previous versions, but the hardware has been thoroughly renewed, and there are also welcome changes in terms of connectors. The foundations are now provided by Cortex A72 type processor cores, which are built around the ARMv8 architecture and have 64-bit support - we get a total of four of them, ticking at 1.5 GHz. It is a serious step forward that the SoC is now able to decode H.265 content with hardware acceleration up to the 4k60p level, but the encoding only takes place at Full HD resolution and a maximum speed of 30 FPS.

The system memory has jumped from the previous LPDDR2 standard to the LPDDR4 standard, which results in increased memory bandwidth, but some progress has also been made in terms of memory capacity. Previous models only had 512 MB or 1 GB of onboard memory, but now the 1 GB base model comes with two others: one with 2 GB and the other with 4 GB of RAM - all LPDDR4 with a speed of 2400 MHz. This is particularly good news, as many projects may require extra memory - from now on, this can be easily obtained by purchasing the appropriate model.

The little thing equipped with the BCM2711 SoC finally got a full-fledged Gigabit Ethernet port, which is now not connected to a USB 2.0 connection, which can significantly improve network data transfer bandwidth. Of course, the controllers supporting wireless communication have also been improved, so we also get a WiFi controller with 802.11ac/n/b/g support and a Bluetooth 5.0 BLE controller – the latter is a welcome improvement compared to the previous Bluetooth 4.2 BLE-based solution.

This time, the connectors didn't survive the update either, so the normal-sized HDMI port was replaced by two micro-HDMI video outputs, which are capable of driving a maximum of two 4K 60 Hz displays. There are two USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 ports among the USB ports, and the power supply can be provided via a USB-C port instead of a USB micro-B. The standard microSD memory card reader, the 40-pin GPIO pin array, the MIPI DSI display port and the MIPI CSI camera port are all available, and with the help of PoE HAT, we can also take advantage of the possibilities inherent in Power over Ethernet support. Of course, you can also buy an official case, an official power supply, and other accessories for the new hobby computer, and it is even available as a complete set.