Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ has a faster processor and faster wireless internet
It's Pi Day, and the Raspberry Pi Foundation is marking the occasion by releasing a new, faster low-cost computer made for DIY projects.
The new Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ is now on sale for only $35, the same price as its predecessor. The new computer board builds on the previous model by adding a faster processor, higher Wi-Fi speeds, and faster Ethernet. The Model B+ will also be able to sustain higher performance for longer than its predecessor, thanks to an all new heat sink.
In a blog post and short YouTube video, Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton explains that the company commonly releases updates to its hardware a few years after every release.
For everyone curious about the new spec sheet, the Model B+ is powered by a 1.4GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU (compared to the 1.2GHz BCM2837 chip in the Pi 3).
The new device also sports internet speeds to the tune of 300Mbps (three times the speeds of previous boards) thanks to dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless connectivity and gigabit ethernet over USB 2.0. The new processor includes a heat spreader and additional power optimizations, which will allow the device to run longer without overheating, and decrease its power consumption.
In short, all this jargon means that your favorite DIY computer is now able to do more than it was before, and do it faster. It's also the same size as its predecessor -- so you can swap it into the products your old one powers without a problem.
Monica wrote for Mashable's Tech section with a focus on retail, internet of things, and the intersections of technology and social justice. She holds a degree in creative writing from Brown University, and has previously written for Dow Jones Media, the New York Post, Yahoo Finance, and others. In her free time, she can be found attempting to cook Asian food, buying board games, and looking for new hobbies.
