News Surprise Raspberry Pi 4 Compute Module Announced

[Admin]

A new Raspberry Pi Compute Module powered by the same chip as the Raspberry Pi 4, but in a smaller form factor.

Surprise Raspberry Pi 4 Compute Module Announced : Read more

 

[SonoraTechnical]

Nice to see. Disappointed to not see mic/headphone jacks on that carrier board (but that might explain the mysterios AN0, AN1 pins that are available on the CM4... interesting.
Packaging of eMMC is nice... I wonder if we will see it on a future RaspberryPi4 instead of having to wait for a 5 to include either eMMC or an M.2 connector to add you own NVMe drives.

If I had the physical space in some of my current projects (presently no), I'd use this compute/carrier board combo as a Pi4 substitute.

 

[mrv_co]

Managing +32 SKUs seems like a lot, but I expect they know what they're doing. I'll be interested to see what new sorts of projects this enables. Hopefully not just more "Magic Mirrors".

 

[SonoraTechnical]

This item has two things that I prefer over the standard RaspberryPi4B..

1. The option for an external Wifi antenna for no comprimise mounting in a metal enclosure.
2. The eMMC for faster, secure, permanently installed storage.

However, the other CM4 gains (PCI 1x interface, multiple DSI camera/lcd connectors, etc...) don't offset the increased cost and size over the 4B.

CM4 - $90 (wifi, bt, 8GB, 32GB eMMC)
CM4 IOBoard - $35
Antenna - $5

Total: $130.

RPi4B - $75 (wifi, bt, 8GB, no storage).
MicroSD - 32GB - $10

Total $85.

I don't mind the additonal cost. It's the 3X greater real-estate that's an issue.

I also adore the 4Bs mounting holes that setback from the edge with the USB and Ethernet ports... Nice for mounting on a backplane, and still being able to make cuts in a case and have those ports accessible... without having to create a unique mounting. ... However, it would be nice to access the power from that side, but alas there is no space..

That said, the IOBoard has the advantage of all externally accessible ports being mounted along one edge... USB, Ethernet, HDMI, 12V Barrel connector, SDCard (which would go unused with the eMMC option)

Hoping for a RaspberryPi4B+ to give us an eMMC, an external antenna option, a power header so we don't have to use the usb pwr... I use the DSI ports for video, so it's not a terrible thing that I cannot easily access the HDMI ports, nor the power.

Sacrifices either way. If it weren't for that size.. I'd be tempted by the CM4/IOBoard/Antenna option. (I literally can't fit it in my current projects).

Saw a nice review of storage performance with the CM4:
https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2020/raspberry-pi-compute-module-4-review
Bottom line, eMMC is much faster than SDMicro. (34%-200%). Of course the NVMe speeds are screaming, but I don't want the extra bulk and cost. Just the modest speed increases over SDmicro is sufficient for me.

So yeah, an eMMC and external antena option would be fantastic on a RaspberryPi4B+ (plus is my addition). Give me what I like from the CM4 without having to grow the foot print 3X.