It is only fitting that on Pi day 2018, the Raspberry Pi Foundation announces the newest Raspberry Pi since the ground breaking Raspberry Pi 3 Model B. Their newest slice of Pi is not the Raspberry Pi 4, which will certainly be groundbreaking as well, but rather is a convenient and streamlined version of the Model B. The new Pi comes baked with a new chip package, which enables new features that will surely be appealing to the already powerful user base of Pi hungry people.
The first notable upgrade between the Model B and the Model B+ is the updated version of the BCM2837B0 Broadcom processor, which is a 64-bit chip focused on power integrity and heat dissipation which allows for higher clock frequencies and better temperature monitoring for performance reasons.
Key features of the new Raspberry Pi Model B+:
- 1.4GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU
- 1GB LPDDR2 SDRAM
- Dual-band 802.11ac wireless LAN and Bluetooth 4.2
- Faster Ethernet (over USB 2.0 – 300Mbps max)
- Power-over-Ethernet support (PoE HAT needed)
- Improved PXE network and USB mass-storage booting
- Improved thermal management
Faster Wi-Fi and ethernet
The clock frequency of the CPU received a lofty increase of 200MHz but the real excitement comes from the nearly tripled wired and wireless network throughput and the ability to sustain higher performance for longer periods of time. The 2.4GHz Tx and Rx bandwidth capabilities are 30% higher, while the 5GHz bandwidth is 2.85x the original 35.7 Mb/s of the Pi 3B. Since Raspberry Pi also put a the radio module in a shield, allowing the entire board to be FCC certified as a module, any product designed with the Pi B+ does not need to have its own FCC radiation certification.
On the wired side of the Pi 3B+, Microchip’s upgraded version of the LAN7515 supports Gigabit Ethernet and allows for Tx and Rx bandwidth capabilities of 315 Mb/s over the Pi 3B’s 95 Mb/s. Emulation and streaming are completely optimized with Raspberry Pi 3B+.
Power optimizations
Another extremely distinguishing feature of the Pi 3B+ is the PoE compatibility. Raspberry Pi Foundation requires the use of the new PoE HAT (and use of the new 4-pin header), which converts the 48V PoE supply to a Pi friendly 5V. On the note of power, Raspberry Pi did some really awesome planning in the new implementation of their new chip which has allowed for higher performance than the Pi 3B.
The use of the new MaxLinear MxL7704 power management IC has allowed the Pi B+ to tune clock and voltage rules, allowing for better performance overall, regardless of chip temperature. Below 70C, the Pi B+ increases the core frequency to 1.4GHz but above 70C decreases the core voltage, increasing the amount of time before the chip throttles at 80C. Most applications will never get to the throttle point, but this power management trickery allows for better overall peak performance and longer-duration sustained performance. This does mean, however, that the Raspberry Pi 3 B+ uses significantly more power than the Pi B, so be sure to have a high quality 2.5A power supply ready to use with your Raspberry Pi 3 B+.
Ultimately...
Ultimately, the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ is an update to the Model B that is akin to "new" smartphone updates that we are all used to by now. There was no drastic overhaul of the board, but rather a fine-tuning re-spin that is meant to satisfy the large majority of the user base by adding a few new features. The Model B+ was optimized to be better utilized in industrial applications where PoE is desirable or for anyone who is designing the Pi into a scaled product of their own. Other than an increase in network speeds, the Pi 3B+ has relatively similar functionality to the Pi 3B and most new features will only be completely taken advantage of by advanced users.