Raspberry Pi 4 launches with faster CPU, GPU, dual 4K monitor support, up to 4GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac, USB 3.0, Bluetooth 5.0, with 1GB model for $35
We have a surprise for you today: Raspberry Pi 4 is now on sale, starting at $35. This is a comprehensive upgrade, touching almost every element of the platform.
Context & Ripple Effects
The Raspberry Pi 4 is the fourth rung on an unusually disciplined ladder: the Pi 2 brought a quad-core SoC and 1GB of RAM at $35 in 2015, the Pi 3 added integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and last year's Pi 3 Model B+ pushed gigabit Ethernet onto the board — though only over USB 2.0, leaving I/O as the visible bottleneck.
What changes with the Pi 4 is that the compromises move off the spec sheet at once: true Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, dual 4K monitor support, and up to 4GB of RAM, all still anchored at $35 for the 1GB model.
First-order effects
- Buyers get desktop-class connectivity — native gigabit networking, USB 3.0 peripherals, and two 4K displays — at the same $35 entry price that has held since the Pi 2, making the board viable as a thin client or light desktop rather than just an embedded tinkerer's part.
- The existing Pi 3 lineup is immediately repositioned: its USB-2.0-bottlenecked Ethernet and slower wireless now read as last-generation specs against a same-priced successor.
Second-order effects
- Other low-cost single-board computer vendors lose their I/O differentiation argument — USB 3.0 and real gigabit were among the few specs they could beat the Pi on — forcing them to compete on price below $35 or on niche capabilities instead.
- Peripherals and accessories built for prior Pis (cases, hubs, displays) face demand for new variants, since dual 4K output and higher power draw change what enclosures and power supplies must support.
Third-order effects
- If each generation keeps holding the entry price while compounding capability, the structural endpoint is a commodity general-purpose Linux desktop — but the later trajectory points the other way on price: the Pi 5 launched at $60 for the 4GB model, and even the cheaper $50 2GB variant sits well above $35, suggesting the anchor erodes as the platform matures into a genuine PC replacement.
- That drift implies the product line bifurcates over time — a premium tier competing with entry PCs and a stripped-down tier defending the original education-and-tinkerer mission — rather than one board serving both.
The trend: Single-board computers are evolving from hobbyist boards into legitimate low-cost desktops across successive generations, with the classic $35 entry point steadily giving way to higher prices as the hardware catches up.