The last few weeks have been busy for the Raspberry Pi Foundation. After introducing the Compute Module 4 (also known as CM4) two weeks ago together with its accompanying IO board, today the Foundation launches the Raspberry Pi 400. Unlike the CM4, which was a to-be-expected evolution of the previous version CM3, the Raspberry Pi 400 is a completely new product.

It’s a Keyboard!

Housed inside a keyboard, the Raspberry Pi 400 is the first Raspberry Pi that doesn’t come as a bare computer board, but as a nicely finished consumer product instead. The Raspberry Pi 400 is based on the Raspberry Pi 4, so it is not completely new, but its shape is. The Pi 4 was reshaped to fit inside the keyboard, and its connectors were moved to make them available on the rear of the device.

 
Slim and light-weight, the Raspberry Pi 400 fits in the palm of your hand.

All the Connectors?

No, not all. The LCD display port, the camera connector, and the analogue audio/video (AV) connector have been dropped. Furthermore, one USB 2.0 port has been repurposed internally to connect the keyboard to. This leaves the user with two micro-HDMI ports, two USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 port, a true Gigabit Ethernet port, the microSD card slot and, most importantly, the 40-pin extension connector.

New Features

Besides being shaped as a keyboard, the Raspberry Pi 400 has few new features. One of them is the soft Power On/Off button (on the F10 key) which allows the Pi to be switched down the proper way (instead of pulling the plug), and a large heat sink inside makes a fan unnecessary, thereby ensuring noiseless operation.

 
The connectors at the rear with the 40-pin Raspberry-Pi-compatible extension connector on the left.

Specifications of the Raspberry Pi 400

Being basically an 4-GB RPi 4, the specifications of the Raspberry Pi 400 are almost the same:
 
  • 1.8 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 CPU
  • 4 GB LPDDR4-3200 DRAM
  • VideoCore VI graphics (OpenGL ES 3.1, Vulkan)
  • 4kp60 HEVC decode
  • True Gigabit Ethernet
  • 2× USB 3.0 and 1× USB 2.0 ports
  • 2× micro-HDMI ports (1× 4kp60 or 2× 4kp30)
  • USB-C for input power, supporting 5 V 3 A operation
  • Raspberry Pi-compatible 40-pin horizontal GPIO connector
  • Kensington lock
  • Dimensions: 285 mm × 122 mm × 22 mm (11.2” × 4.8” × 0.87”)
  • Weight: 385 g (13.6 oz, about 1.7 cups ;-)

Pricing and availability

At launch, the Raspberry Pi 400 will be available in six different country/language variants (EN, US, DE, FR, IT, ES) and should retail for around €70. A kit comprising the Pi 400, a USB-C power supply, a (wired) mouse, a micro-HDMI-to-HDMI cable (1 metre), a preloaded 16 GB microSD card and the official Raspberry Pi Beginner’s Guide (updated for the Raspberry Pi 400) will cost about €100.


 
P.S.: When choosing a kit, make sure to get the country variant right for both the keyboard and the power supply.