Today, the Raspberry Pi foundation launched its Raspberry Pi Model A+, a tiny computer that has a footprint smaller than a credit card. It measures just 55 x 65 mm.
The Model A+ uses the same 700 MHz BCM2835 processor as found previously in earlier Raspberry Pis, and it comes with 256 MB of memory. It has a single USB port (with support for USB hubs), an HDMI interface, a push-push Micro-SD card slot, and a dedicated low-noise audio solution.
It also has a 40-pin GPIO interface for expansion cards, making it compatible with Raspberry Pi HATs add-on boards. Also on the board are camera and display adapters, and it is powered by a single micro-USB interface.
The removal of the network interface, along with a revised board design, has resulted in significantly lower power consumption, making the Model A+ ideally suited for low-power battery operated applications.
It should be noted that while the Model A+ features many of the improvements that the B+ also received, it's not built to replace that model but rather to work as a lower-cost, smaller, and more efficient unit that can be used for different applications.
Raspberry Pis are meant to be cheap, widely compatible, compact computers built to help people learn how to program. Despite that, they've also gained massive popularity in the enthusiast community because they're superb for various other purposes, too. These include robotics, mini computers, arcade games, and just about anything you could imagine doing with the small development board.
The foundation priced the Raspberry Pi Model A+ at $20, making it $5 cheaper than its predecessor.
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