Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ Is Released
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The Raspberry Pi Foundation released the Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ in November 2018. It combined the faster processor and wireless capabilities of the Pi 3 generation with the smaller, cheaper Model A form factor.
The board used a 1.4 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, and 512 MB of RAM. To reduce cost and size it omitted Ethernet and provided only one full-size USB port, while keeping the 40-pin GPIO header used by many Pi accessories.
The A+ was a reminder that single-board computers do not need to optimize for maximum specifications. For embedded projects, physical size, power consumption, connector count, and price can matter more than RAM capacity or desktop performance.