"No Raspberry Pi 4 A This Year," Upton Says

Raspberry Pi 4 A rumors abound. So, rather than guess, I decided to go straight to the source — Raspberry Pi CEO and Founder Eben Upton. Here is what I learned. 

Where's the 4 A?

In a recent interview with Tom's Hardware, Upton addressed the question whether a Raspberry 4 A was in the works. What would it actually look like? Which features would it have to get closer to a price point of $25? In the interview, Upton explained that 2021 is a special year, and due to the current situation in the chip market, all available chips will go into production of the Raspberry Pi 4 B. Even those who hope to see a successor to the Raspberry Pi Zero with more computing power and additional updates will have to wait a little longer, Upton explained in the interview. 
  I decided to follow up and dig a little deeper. During a July 28 chat with Upton, I asked him direclty about the statement and the resulting rumors about a Raspberry Pi 4 A. "No new products" was his clear answer to the question about the rumors. (You can read my full interview with Upton in the November 2021 edition of Elektor Industry.)

 
The A series is popular mainly due to its compact height. The lack of a Raspberry Pi 4-based A model is something some are trying to counteract by removing all unnecessary components from a Raspberry Pi 4 B. The A series of the Raspberry Pi has its latest iteration in the Raspberry Pi 3 A+ and is priced around $25. Any eventual planned releases of Raspberry Pi hardware, including in the form of an eventual Raspberry Pi 4 A, are no longer expected this year. For Upton, the price of $25 for the A series is an important point of the product that is currently not achievable due to the market.

The Raspberry Pi PoE+ HAT

As a result of the current tight supply situation, the Raspberry Pi 4 PoE+ HAT has been released. There is still demand for the PoE HAT, but due to supply shortages of certain components for the PoE HAT, production of the PoE+ HAT was started to counteract these supply shortages.
  Stay tuned for future updates about Raspberry Pi products. Subscribe to Elektor's Raspberry Pi tag to receive updates whenever we post new articles.