Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ is latest member with same affordable price

Say hello to the new Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+. "Alongside a 200MHz increase in peak CPU clock frequency, we have roughly three times the wired and wireless network throughput, and the ability to sustain high performance for much longer periods," according to Eben Upton.

"This latest iteration has the same footprint as both the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B and Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, which means it's about the size of a deck of cards," said Darrell Etherington in TechCrunch.

It's a new version of the Raspberry Pi Model B, and an applauded upgrade by many.

Lots of Raspberry Pi fans already making the most out of a little computer priced right for DIY enthusiasts have been posting comments to say they are pleased with the improvements.

EE Journal talked about target users, saying "the new board is the latest product in the Raspberry Pi 3 range and targets a very wide range of users including students and enthusiasts, as well as experienced engineers and professionals who are developing innovative Internet of Things (IoT) applications."

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ is available now for the same $35 price. Also, wrote Ryan Whitwam in ExtremeTech, the board is still compatible with all existing Raspberry Pi 3 accessories.

Eben Upton, CEO, Raspberry Pi Trading, posted on the site's blog: "The new product is built around BCM2837B0, an updated version of the 64-bit Broadcom application processor used in Raspberry Pi 3B, which incorporates power integrity optimisations, and a heat spreader (that's the shiny metal bit you can see in the photos)."

Paul Ridden in New Atlas described a Broadcom BCM2837B0 1.4 GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 system-on-chip. He also noted the heat spreader "and power integrity tweaks allows for a 200 MHz increase in clock frequency, while also catering for improved accuracy in temperature monitoring and control."

Think of it as a "Plus" version. Gigabit Ethernet with maximum transfer network speeds of up to 300 Mbps, or three times higher than that of the Model B, was noted in TechCrunch.

Upton, wearing an Occupy Mars t-shirt, asked Roger Thornton, principal hardware engineer, to tell viewers in a posted video about the updated version. Thornton provided the details and also said the device has the same features—only they have been much improved.

He said this Plus version is not as big an overhaul as the original B+ was, but the Pi 3B+ does have improvements that make it distinct.

TechCrunch: "The dual-band Wi-Fi included on the board actually already has modular compliance certification, so it's far easier to integrate his version of the Pi into end products design for consumer and commercial sale without having to do a load of testing and certification on the buyer's end."

Paul Miller in The Verge: "The new board has a slightly faster 1.4 GHz quad-core processor, Bluetooth 4.2 (an upgrade from 4.1), and dual-band Wi-Fi. He added, "I'm especially excited about the Wi-Fi upgrade."

Upton said, all in all, that, with the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, they rolled up fixes and came up with a neater, tidier-looking board.

In the blog, he mentioned that "Raspberry Pi 3B was our first product to support PXE Ethernet boot. Testing it in the wild shook out a number of compatibility issues with particular switches and traffic environments."

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