A few months after unveiling the upcoming Quartz64 Model A single-board computer powered by Rockchip’s new RK3566 1.8 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A55 processor, Pine64 is introducing a Quartz64 Model B.

This variation is smaller, measuring 85mm x 56mm. That makes it about the same size as a Raspberry Pi Model B, or roughly the size of a standard business card. According to a blog post from Pine64, new Quartz64 Model B is expected to go on sale at around the same time as the Model A, which has been delayed by about a month due to component shortages.

Quartz64 Model B

The Quartz64 Model B features a 40-pin GPIO connector, Gigabit Ethernet, a microSD card reader and eMMC slot for optional onboard storage, plus a USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0 ports, and an infrared port.

There are also DSI and CSI connectors that can be used to connect displays or cameras, and an M.2 PCIe connector that can be used for solid state storage or other peripherals (the board isn’t large enough for a standard M.2 2280 or even M.2 2242 slot, so you’ll probably need an extender cable).

Pine64 says the single-board computer will ship with built-in support for WiFi and Bluetooth, but there are two different options for wireless capabilities. Customers will be able to choose between a model with a Realtek WiFi & Bluetooth chipset or a Bouffalo BL602 802.11b/g/n & Bluetooth 5.0 LE chipset (which a group of independent hackers/developers are working to create open source firmware for, as part of Pine64’s “Nutcracker Challenge“).

If you’d prefer an option with more ports and connectors, the Quartz64 Model A is a 133mm x 80mm board with SATA, eDP, and touch panel interfaces, among other things.

Both boards feature the same RK3566 processor, Mali-G52 graphics, and support for 2GB to 8GB of LPDDR4 memory.

Quartz64 Model A

You can read more about the Quartz64 hardware and development of Linux-based software for the platform in the Pine64 April 2021 Update or at the Pine64 Wiki page for the Quartz64 Models A and B.

It’s also worth noting that Linux developers are preparing to add mainline Linux kernel support for the RK3566 processor used in these little computers.

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