Since the first Raspberry Pi computer began shipping in 2012, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has stuck to the same low price for its flagship products. The original Raspberry Pi Model B sold for $35 at launch, and that’s been true of every model released since 2012.

But the global chip and supply chain shortage is throwing a wrench into the works, and for the first time ever, Raspberry Pi is raising the price of one of its products. But if you’re still looking for a $35 computer, the organization has you covered.

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B

Here’s the deal: Last year Raspberry Pi dropped the entry-level Raspberry Pi 4 Model B with 1GB of RAM from its lineup and lowered the price for a 2GB model to $35.

Now both of those moves are being reversed, at least temporarily.

That means the 1GB Raspberry Pi 4 is back and it costs $35. And it also means that the 2GB model is getting a price hike to $45 (which is what it cost when the Raspberry Pi 4 was first introduced in 2019).

Raspberry Pi notes that products based on its older 40nm chips are also feeling the crunch of supply chain shortages, so while there are no plans to discontinue Raspberry Pi 3 series devices, there will be some shifts in priorities, which may affect availability for the time being:

  • The Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3, Compute Module 3+ and Raspberry Pi 3B have been prioritized.
  • The Raspberry Pi 3B+ is taking lower priority.

That decision was made since the Raspberry Pi 3B+ has the same wireless chipset as the Raspberry Pi 4, which could make it cheaper and easier for organizations currently relying on the older version to migrate to the Raspberry Pi 4 with its 28nm processor if they need to buy more hardware in 2022 than it would be to migrate from other Raspberry Pi 3 series devices.

You can find more details in a post about the changes at the Raspberry Pi blog.

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6 replies on “Raspberry Pi 4 gets temporary price hike to $45 (but the 1GB model returns for $35)”

  1. The cold fact is that eg. RS is not able to supply ANY RPi before mid 2022.

    So it is not only a question of big demand, as the foundation brags about, but that they have no supply, what so ever.

    And lowering or increasing a price for at product which is totally unavailable is a mockery.

    So the big problem is, where to find a reliable alternative to the RPi, because basing business on them seems to risky.

  2. Never seen the 2 GB model below 60€, so I guess it’s about to get even more expensive?

  3. RPi4 has been out of stock for months now, so it doesn’t matter what the price is.

  4. Mostly it is not a part shortage but greater demand, many fabs etc are running at higher production levels, couple with products stuck in transit and all that’s needed is, once the flash flood ends over capacity, with customers facing home higher costs. Travel, heating, rent, food, clothing, transport and vehicle costs. Ouch is coming ! IMO.

  5. May I be the first one to make this predication: The price will never return to where it was!

    China will be different when the pandemic, the worker shortages, the shipping challenges, the cost of energy, and geopolitics gets involved. The era of dirt cheap electronics from China is coming to a close.

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