The Raspberry Pi Interactive Timeline · 2006–2026

At the University of Cambridge, Eben Upton notices that less and less young group are applying to study machine subject — and that the applicants deficiency the hands-on tinkering acquisition of the home-computer generation. The first Atmel-based prototypes are built: still a agelong measurement from the later Pi, but the ngo is already group — a machine truthful inexpensive that each kid tin research pinch one.

Source: Raspberry Pi Foundation ↗

Together pinch friends from academia and manufacture — including Broadcom colleagues and Cambridge lecturers — Eben Upton founds the Raspberry Pi Foundation. In May 2009 it is registered arsenic a kindness (UK kindness no. 1129409). Its stated goal: promoting machine subject acquisition for young people.

Source: UK Charity Commission ↗

The first 25 last beta boards are manufactured. In early 2012 the Foundation auctions 10 of them disconnected connected eBay successful a well-publicised run — individual boards fetch four-figure sums and money the last polish earlier launch. The auctions springiness the upcoming $35 machine its first sensation of world fame.

Source: Wikipedia (launch history) ↗

The original Raspberry Pi Model B from 2012 (photo: Jwrodgers, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

On leap time 2012, the first Raspberry Pi goes connected sale. The unreserved for the $35 machine pinch its 700 MHz ARM spot and 256 MB of RAM takes down the servers of some distributors, Farnell and RS Components, wrong minutes — the Foundation itself has to move its website to a fixed page. The scheme had been a mini accumulation tally for British schoolhouse kids; it turned into the opening of the best-selling British machine of each time.

Source: raspberrypi.com (launch retrospective) ↗

Raspbian — a Debian build optimised for the Pi’s hardware, started arsenic a organization task by Mike Thompson and Peter Green — becomes the officially recommended system. It marks the commencement of the Debian lineage that the Pi’s operating strategy follows to this day.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

Manufacturing moves from China to the Sony mill successful Pencoed, Wales — and astir Raspberry Pis still rotation disconnected the statement location today. For an electronics merchandise successful this value class, bringing accumulation backmost to Europe was unheard of successful 2012.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

At nary other cost, the Foundation doubles the Model B’s representation from 256 to 512 MB. It is the first illustration of a shape that stays pinch the Pi for years: much capacity for the aforesaid price.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The stripped-down Model A (256 MB RAM, 1 USB port, nary Ethernet) reaches Europe. Drawing only a 3rd of the Model B’s power, it becomes the first prime for battery-powered projects and robotics.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The first Camera Module from 2013 (photo: Sven.petersen, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

For $25, the Pi gets its first charismatic accessory board: a 5-megapixel camera for the CSI port. Time-lapses, birdhouse cams and surveillance projects quickly make the camera the most-used Pi accessory of all.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

Eighteen months aft launch, the Foundation reports 1.75 cardinal Pis sold, 1 cardinal of them built astatine the Sony works successful Pencoed. The tinkerer’s machine is definitively nary longer a niche product.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The Pi successful SODIMM format kicks disconnected the business line: companies tin now build Pi exertion consecutive into their ain products. Along the way, the acquisition task becomes an embedded supplier — today, business and embedded customers relationship for complete two-thirds of sales.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The B+ locks successful the layout that still applies today: 40-pin GPIO header, microSD slot, 4 USB ports and the acquainted mounting holes. Thanks to that decision, practically each HAT expansion board of the past 10 years fits each modern Pi.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

Four cores alternatively of one, 1 GB of RAM, aforesaid price: according to the Foundation, the Pi 2 is “six times faster” than its predecessor. For the first clip the Pi really feels usable arsenic a desktop instrumentality — and Microsoft announces Windows 10 IoT Core for the Pi successful parallel.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

With 5 cardinal units sold, the Raspberry Pi overtakes the legendary ZX Spectrum and becomes the best-selling British machine of each clip — 3 years aft launch.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

After years of improvement (including an EMC certification odyssey), the first charismatic show arrives: 7 inches, 800×480, touch — the starting awesome for countless Pi-based smart location panels, stalls systems and car dashboards.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The Pi Zero undercuts each value obstruction — and the Foundation sticks it onto the screen of its ain MagPi mag arsenic a free gift. A afloat Linux machine astatine the newsstand: the rumor sells retired wrong hours.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

Two specially hardened Pis pinch Sense HATs motorboat to the International Space Station alongside ESA astronaut Tim Peake. Ever since, tens of thousands of schoolhouse kids person tally their ain codification successful orbit each twelvemonth — still 1 of Europe’s biggest STEM acquisition programmes.

Source: astro-pi.org (ESA) ↗

Right connected clip for the 4th day (another leap day!), the Pi 3 arrives — for the first clip pinch Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connected committee and a 64-bit-capable quad-core. The dongle sprawl connected the USB ports comes to an end, and the Pi yet becomes the modular building artifact for the connected home.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

Four and a half years aft launch, 10 cardinal Pis person been sold — Eben Upton had primitively expected 10,000 successful total. The first charismatic starter kit is released to people the milestone.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

For its 5th birthday, the Zero gets Wi-Fi and Bluetooth — for $10. IoT projects, smart cameras and retro handhelds nary longer request a USB adapter.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

More timepiece velocity (1.4 GHz), Gigabit Ethernet (attached via USB), dual-band Wi-Fi and PoE readiness: the B+ is the astir mature type of the Pi 3 procreation — fittingly released connected Pi Day, 14 March.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The A statement gets its send-off: afloat Pi 3 capacity successful the compact A format for $25. No successor has appeared to this time — anyone building mini has reached for the Zero ever since.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The Pi 4 brings USB 3.0, existent Gigabit Ethernet, 2 4K HDMI outputs — and for the first clip a prime of RAM (1, 2 aliases 4 GB, later 8). The $35 introduction value stays, but from now connected the Pi is besides a superior desktop and server machine. One sore point: the first revision has a USB-C charging flaw that acts up pinch “smart” cables.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

Along pinch the 8 GB version of the Pi 4, the Foundation renames its operating system: Raspbian becomes Raspberry Pi OS, and the 64-bit beta launches successful parallel. The caller sanction positions the strategy arsenic an charismatic merchandise — the Debian guidelines stays.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The CM4 switches to compact board-to-board connectors and brings PCIe into the Pi world for the first clip — officially only for business customers, though. The organization builds anyway: NAS boards, routers and the first NVMe experiments each look connected a CM4 basis.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

In the mediate of the homeschooling year, the Pi 400 appears: a complete machine successful a keyboard lawsuit for $70 — a deliberate front to the location computers of the ’80s whose tone erstwhile inspired the Foundation.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

With the $4 Pico microcontroller, Raspberry Pi steps into Arduino territory — and pinch the self-developed RP2040 becomes a chipmaker for the first time. The measurement from committee builder to silicon designer shapes everything that comes after.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The Zero 2 W packs a quad-core into the unchanged Zero footprint — made imaginable by a civilization system-in-package (RP3A0). For $15, moreover much demanding package now runs connected the smallest Pi.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The world semiconductor situation hits the Pi pinch afloat force: boards are sold retired for months, scalpers complaint absurd prices, and the Foundation officially prioritises business customers. Things only easiness up successful mid-2023 — a dent that concisely gives the title (Orange Pi & co.) a boost.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The Pico goes wireless: for $6, the microcontroller becomes a fully-fledged IoT platform. Sensors that beam their readings consecutive into your Wi-Fi now costs little than a lunch.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The Pi 5 brings the 2nd in-house design: the RP1 spot handles each of the I/O. For the first time, PCIe is officially accessible — the instauration of the NVMe roar that yet turns the Pi into a server and desktop machine. On apical of that travel a powerfulness fastener and a real-time clock, 2 of the most-requested features ever.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

With its Debian 12 guidelines (“Bookworm”), Raspberry Pi OS switches the desktop to Wayland — arsenic 1 of the first awesome Linux systems to do so. The move brings smoother graphics, but besides breaks a fewer aged instrumentality workflows.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

With Connect, location is yet an charismatic measurement to power your Pi remotely — desktop and ammunition successful the browser, without larboard forwarding aliases VPN fiddling. For beginners, 1 of the biggest hurdles of headless cognition simply disappears.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

Together pinch Hailo, Raspberry Pi releases a 13 TOPS AI accelerator arsenic an M.2 HAT for $70. Real-time entity discovery now runs locally connected the Pi 5 — nary unreality required. The starting changeable for the AI merchandise line.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

Raspberry Pi Holdings plc goes nationalist connected the London Stock Exchange. The charitable Foundation remains the mostly shareholder — the acquisition bequest and the commercialized limb person been formally separated ever since. Among different things, the IPO costs the company’s ain spot development.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The 2nd in-house microcontroller chip, the RP2350, offers freely selectable RISC-V cores alongside its ARM cores for the first clip — a singular connection successful favour of the unfastened processor architecture. The Pico 2 stays astatine $5.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The AI Camera pinch Sony’s IMX500 runs neural networks straight successful the sensor — the Pi receives ready-made discovery results alternatively of earthy images. AI image processing now useful moreover connected a Zero.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The AI HAT+ integrates the Hailo accelerator straight onto the committee — pinch 26 TOPS successful the apical variant. Analysing video from respective cameras astatine erstwhile becomes an mundane occupation connected the Pi 5.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

Nine years aft the first touch show comes its successor: 720×1280, five-finger touch, slimmer creation — astatine the unchanged $60 price. The modular sheet for smart location hubs yet gets a modern resolution.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

Pi 5 exertion successful the business format: the CM5 brings PCIe, USB 3 and up to 16 GB of RAM to the embedded world — pin-compatible pinch the CM4, which makes switching easy for manufacturers.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The Pi 500 puts Pi 5 exertion into the keyboard case, flanked by the first charismatic Raspberry Pi show (15.6″, Full HD, $100). Together they form, for the first time, a complete desktop setup from a azygous source.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

For $120, the Pi 5 is now disposable pinch 16 GB — 4 times arsenic overmuch arsenic the erstwhile flagship Pi 4. The target audience: section AI models, larger instrumentality setups and everyone who earnestly uses the Pi arsenic a desktop.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The first yearly study aft the IPO puts full income astatine 68 cardinal units. For perspective: the Foundation’s original extremity was 10,000 units for British schools.

Source: Raspberry Pi Holdings, Annual Report 2024 ↗

The astir costly Pi merchandise to date: for $200, the Pi 500+ combines 16 GB of RAM, a 256 GB NVMe SSD and a mechanical RGB keyboard. Raspberry Pi is openly aiming for the table now — nary longer conscionable the workbench.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The caller awesome merchandise based connected Debian 13 (“Trixie”) brings a reworked desktop pinch a modular Control Centre and a caller look. The Debian lineage that began pinch Raspbian successful 2012 enters its fourteenth year.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The astir important beginner’s instrumentality is rewritten from scratch: Imager 2.0 modernises the way from blank SD paper to moving strategy — including a reworked interface and amended preconfiguration.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

Exploding representation prices unit Raspberry Pi into wide value increases for the first clip — and into a 1 GB Pi 5 for $45. Another information of increases follows successful February 2026. The communicative of the ever-cheaper Pi, told since 2012, ends here.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The 2nd procreation of the AI accelerator targets generative models: connection models and image generators now tally locally connected the Pi 5 — correct successful statement pinch the inclination of moving AI assistants for illustration OpenClaw wholly astatine home.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

Not an April Fools’ joke: pinch 4 GB chips scarce and expensive, the Pi 4 appears successful a 3 GB version for $83.75 — a kid of the RAM situation and astir apt the astir different exemplary successful Pi history. At the aforesaid time, prices for further models emergence erstwhile again.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗

The Touch Display 2 gets a large brother: 10 inches for $80. Smart location dashboards and stalls applications yet get an charismatic tablet-sized panel.

Source: raspberrypi.com ↗