Raspberry Pi slices Compute Module 4 prices
(2025/05/02)
- Reference: 1746201952
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/05/02/raspberry_pi_cm4_cuts/
- Source link:
Raspberry Pi has bucked tech industry trends and cut prices for the 4 GB and 8 GB variants of its Compute Module 4.
The Compute Module 4 (CM4) [1]debuted in 2020 and was a departure from the DDR2 SODIMM form factor that had gone before it. Earlier this year, a fully loaded variant with 8 GB RAM and 32 GB of eMMC storage could be had for $95. [2]The price is now $85 . A non-wireless 4 GB Lite variant, with no eMMC storage, has dropped from $50 to $45.
Pi supremo Eben Upton told El Reg that the change was about reflecting long-term trends in DRAM pricing in the company's product lines. "If you look at all our modern products, we charge $5 per GB increment," he said. "CM4 is a bit older and had a steeper curve, which led to the weird situation where high density CM5 was cheaper than the equivalent CM4. This tweak fixes that."
[3]
The cut only applies to the standard operating temperature units rather than the variants aimed at [4]colder environments . The price of the lower memory density units is also unchanged.
[5]
[6]
While useful work can be done on the 1 GB and 2 GB variants of the CM4, the extra headroom afforded by the 4 GB version will be welcomed by industry and enthusiasts alike. While the CM4 is not the latest and greatest Compute Module on offer – that is currently the beefier (and pricier) Compute Module 5 – the CM4 still has plenty of horsepower for less processor-intensive tasks.
Does this mean the lower density variants could be discontinued? "No plans to discontinue SKUs," Upton replied. "I sold 900 Raspberry Pi 1B+ units last month."
[7]Raspberry Pi not affected by Trump tariffs yet while China-tied rivals feel the heat
[8]Raspberry Pi Power-over-Ethernet Injector zaps life into networks lacking spark
[9]Raspberry Pi RP2350 microcontroller now available to mere mortals
[10]Raspberry Pi launches CM4 variant that laughs in the face of frostbite
Dave Lee, a senior sales executive at Raspberry Pi, said: "There is a vast number of embedded use cases that don't require the processing heft of our new-ish Compute Module 5; by lowering the cost of the higher-memory-density variants of its predecessor, we aim to make these projects more cost-effective, and to unlock new ones that previously weren't viable."
The cut is a welcome respite from seemingly relentless price increases over the years, albeit usually accompanied by a boost in performance. The latest top-end Pi 5, with 16 GB, [11]blew past the $100 barrier earlier this year at $120. A far cry from the [12]early days of the diminutive computer, where considerably less powerful examples could be picked up for less than $30.
[13]
For many applications, the processing power offered by a 16 GB Pi 5 isn't required. A CM4 will be as happy running retro gaming systems as in an industrial setting. It might not have all the ports and connectors of a full-blown Raspberry Pi, but these can easily be added if required by the official I/O board or one of the many third-party options.
Perhaps it's time to have a crack at your own [14]CM4 Handheld retro gaming machine ? ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/19/pi_compute_module_4/
[2] https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/lower-prices-for-4gb-and-8gb-compute-module-4/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aBVAdjV_RFd2ktglDe68PwAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/05/raspberry_pi_extended_temperatures/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aBVAdjV_RFd2ktglDe68PwAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aBVAdjV_RFd2ktglDe68PwAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/02/raspberry_pi_not_affected_by_tariff/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/24/raspberry_pi_poweroverethernet/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/18/raspberry_rp2350_microcontroller_now_available/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/05/raspberry_pi_extended_temperatures/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/09/the_ultimate_pi_5_arrives/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2012/01/13/raspberry_pi_foundation_rolls_out_linux_based_pcs/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aBVAdjV_RFd2ktglDe68PwAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://github.com/juckettd/RaspberryPiCM4Handheld7Inch
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The Compute Module 4 (CM4) [1]debuted in 2020 and was a departure from the DDR2 SODIMM form factor that had gone before it. Earlier this year, a fully loaded variant with 8 GB RAM and 32 GB of eMMC storage could be had for $95. [2]The price is now $85 . A non-wireless 4 GB Lite variant, with no eMMC storage, has dropped from $50 to $45.
Pi supremo Eben Upton told El Reg that the change was about reflecting long-term trends in DRAM pricing in the company's product lines. "If you look at all our modern products, we charge $5 per GB increment," he said. "CM4 is a bit older and had a steeper curve, which led to the weird situation where high density CM5 was cheaper than the equivalent CM4. This tweak fixes that."
[3]
The cut only applies to the standard operating temperature units rather than the variants aimed at [4]colder environments . The price of the lower memory density units is also unchanged.
[5]
[6]
While useful work can be done on the 1 GB and 2 GB variants of the CM4, the extra headroom afforded by the 4 GB version will be welcomed by industry and enthusiasts alike. While the CM4 is not the latest and greatest Compute Module on offer – that is currently the beefier (and pricier) Compute Module 5 – the CM4 still has plenty of horsepower for less processor-intensive tasks.
Does this mean the lower density variants could be discontinued? "No plans to discontinue SKUs," Upton replied. "I sold 900 Raspberry Pi 1B+ units last month."
[7]Raspberry Pi not affected by Trump tariffs yet while China-tied rivals feel the heat
[8]Raspberry Pi Power-over-Ethernet Injector zaps life into networks lacking spark
[9]Raspberry Pi RP2350 microcontroller now available to mere mortals
[10]Raspberry Pi launches CM4 variant that laughs in the face of frostbite
Dave Lee, a senior sales executive at Raspberry Pi, said: "There is a vast number of embedded use cases that don't require the processing heft of our new-ish Compute Module 5; by lowering the cost of the higher-memory-density variants of its predecessor, we aim to make these projects more cost-effective, and to unlock new ones that previously weren't viable."
The cut is a welcome respite from seemingly relentless price increases over the years, albeit usually accompanied by a boost in performance. The latest top-end Pi 5, with 16 GB, [11]blew past the $100 barrier earlier this year at $120. A far cry from the [12]early days of the diminutive computer, where considerably less powerful examples could be picked up for less than $30.
[13]
For many applications, the processing power offered by a 16 GB Pi 5 isn't required. A CM4 will be as happy running retro gaming systems as in an industrial setting. It might not have all the ports and connectors of a full-blown Raspberry Pi, but these can easily be added if required by the official I/O board or one of the many third-party options.
Perhaps it's time to have a crack at your own [14]CM4 Handheld retro gaming machine ? ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/19/pi_compute_module_4/
[2] https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/lower-prices-for-4gb-and-8gb-compute-module-4/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aBVAdjV_RFd2ktglDe68PwAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/05/raspberry_pi_extended_temperatures/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aBVAdjV_RFd2ktglDe68PwAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aBVAdjV_RFd2ktglDe68PwAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/02/raspberry_pi_not_affected_by_tariff/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/24/raspberry_pi_poweroverethernet/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/18/raspberry_rp2350_microcontroller_now_available/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/05/raspberry_pi_extended_temperatures/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/09/the_ultimate_pi_5_arrives/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2012/01/13/raspberry_pi_foundation_rolls_out_linux_based_pcs/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aBVAdjV_RFd2ktglDe68PwAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://github.com/juckettd/RaspberryPiCM4Handheld7Inch
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/