In a nutshell: Raspberry Pi has been offering its single-board computing devices in a flexible, extremely compact form factor since 2014. It has updated the latest iteration of these Compute Modules to offer even more flexibility to enterprise customers and makers.
Raspberry Pi Foundation recently announced a minor expansion to its Compute Module 4S (CM4S) offering, which includes several variants with different memory capabilities. The UK company now sells CM4S boards with 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB of DDR-4 SDRAM, while other basic specifications of the device should stay the same.
The Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 is a system-on-module (SoM) containing a processor, memory, eMMC flash storage, and supporting SODIMM power circuitry. Raspberry Pi specifically designed the CM4S module to leverage its hardware and software stack in custom systems and form factors, with extra GPIO pins for even more application options.
In addition to the multiple RAM options, the CM4S board includes a Broadcom BCM2711 SoC with four Cortex-A72 (Arm v8) cores running at 1.5GHz, 8 to 32GB of eMMC on-board Flash memory, and 46 x GPIO signals. A module with “0GB” eMMC Flash is also available (CM4SLite).
Compute Module 4S modules are in stock and available from Raspberry’s approved resellers. They only come in bulk 200-unit boxes, with prices per unit starting from $25. The CM4S is based on the Raspberry Pi 4 hardware architecture and provides roughly the same form factor as the previous Compute Module 3 generation for easier migration opportunities.
Raspberry Pi highlights how industrial customers have used Compute Modules to develop custom and embedded applications. Companies and makers have used these SoMs to create EV charging stations, self-pour beer taps, coffee machines, and specialized health monitoring devices.
Raspberry Pi vows to keep the updated Compute Module 4S boards in production until January 2034 or longer. The company also has a transition document designed to help customers migrate from Compute Module 1, Compute Module 3, or Compute Module 3+. Raspberry Pi posted the SoM’s capabilities and complete hardware specifications in a full production brief and datasheet documents.