After showing up at a German trade fare earlier this month, the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 is now official. It's a 55 x 40mm (2.17″ x 1.57″) computer-on-a-module with the same 2.4 GHz Broadcom BC2712 ARM Cortex-A76 quad-core processor as the Raspberry Pi 5.

It's currently available with up to 64GB of eMMC storage and up to 8GB of RAM, but Raspberry Pi also plans to add models with 16GB of memory sometime in 2025. The CM5 also features optional support for WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0.

The Raspberry Pi CM5 is smaller than the Raspberry Pi 5, but it's also not designed to be a fully standalone computer. Instead it has a pair of 100-pin connectors that allow you to attach the module to a carrier board or other hardware to access the PCIe, USB, LAN, MIPI, and GPIO capabilities. The Raspberry Pi CM5 is available now for $45 and up.

The entry-level model features 2GB of LPDDR4-4267 memory and no storage, but customers can also pay more for 4GB or 8GB of RAM and 16GB or 32GB of storage.

All models features the same BC2712 processor with a VideoCore VII GPU featuring support for OpenGL ES 3.1, Vulkan 1.3, and 4K/60Hz HEVC video decoding.

The module supports up to two 4K/60Hz HDMI displays, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (5 Gbps) connections, Gigabit Ethernet, two 4-lane MIPI camera or display connections, and a PCIe 2.0 x1 connection.

Since it's the same size and has the same 100-pin connectors as the previous-generation Raspberry Pi CM4, the new module is a drop-in, "mostly compatible" replacement for the CM4.. That means any carrier boards or other hardware designed for the CM4 should also work with the CM5. But there are a few small changes: among other things, two 2-lane MIPI interfaces have been removed and two USB 3.0 interfaces have been added, so you might not get perfect functionality with an older carrier board.

Raspberry Pi isn't pressuring customers to switch to the new module anytime soon if they're not ready though. The previous-gen Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 was first released in 2020, but the company says and CM4 and CM4Lite "will remain in production till at least January 2035.

So Raspberry Pi has introduced a new Compute Module 5 IO board that's both available for purchase and available as a reference design (with design files released in KiCad format) for those looking to build their own boards.

The IO board measures 160 x 90mm (6.3″ x 3.54″) and features:

  • 1 x Raspberry Pi CM5 connector (2 x 100-pin connectors)
  • 1 x 40-pin Raspberry Pi-compatible GPIO connector
  • 1 x M.2 2280 PCIe socket
  • 2 x HDMI 2.0 connectors
  • 2 x USB 3.0 connectors
  • 1 x Gigabit Ethernet jack (with PoE+ support when used with a PoE+ HAT+)
  • 1 x microSD card reader
  • 2 x 4-lane MIPI-DSI/CSI FPC connectors
  • 1 x RTC battery socket
  • 1 x 4-pin fan connector
  • 1 x USB Type-C port (for power)

    • Other optional accessories including a case, a cooler (passive heatsink), and an antenna kit.  Folks who want to go all-in can also pick up a Development Kit for the Raspberry Pi CM5 that sells for $172 and includes 4GB/32GB compute module, IO board, case, cooler, antenna kit, a couple of cables, and a 27W USB Type-C power supply.

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