Raspberry Pi Hits Second Price Hike of 2026 16GB Models Jump by $100.

Raspberry Pi Announces Second Price Hike for 2026 Amid Surging Memory Costs

Raspberry Pi has officially announced another round of price increases across its high-performance product lines. Following a previous hike earlier this year, the foundation cites the continuing global surge in RAM prices as the primary driver behind this adjustment. The price changes primarily affect models with 4GB of RAM or higher, including the latest flagship boards and industrial modules.

Affected Products and New Pricing

The price adjustments vary by model and memory capacity, with higher-spec versions seeing the most significant increases:

• Raspberry Pi 4 & 5: The 4GB model increases by $25, the 8GB model by $50, and the top-tier 16GB (exclusive to Pi 5) jumps by $100.

• Raspberry Pi 500 Series: Both the standard 500 and the advanced 500+ (standalone and kits) see increases of $50 and $150, respectively.

• Compute Modules (CM4, CM4S, CM5): Prices have climbed across the board, ranging from an $11.25 increase for 1GB models to a $100 hike for the 16GB CM5.

• AI HAT+ 2: The recently launched AI accelerator also sees a $50 price bump.

The "3GB" Alternative

To mitigate the impact on users who need more than 2GB but cannot justify the new 4GB price point, Raspberry Pi has introduced a new 3GB variant of the Raspberry Pi 4. Priced at $83.75, it serves as a middle ground between the 2GB model (remaining at $55) and the newly priced 4GB model (now $100).

What Remains Unchanged?

Legacy products and lower-memory tiers, including the Raspberry Pi 400, and the 1GB/2GB versions of Pi 4 and 5, will maintain their current pricing. Older products utilizing LPDDR2 memory are also unaffected due to stable existing stockpiles. The organization encourages users to re-evaluate their projects to see if these more affordable, lower-RAM models meet their requirements.

Raspberry Pi maintains that these price hikes are a temporary measure and intends to lower prices once the global semiconductor and memory markets stabilize.

 The reason for the soaring RAM prices isn't just due to production issues. It's also because tech giants worldwide are snapping up high-performance memory (HBM and LPDDR5) for their AI data centers, leading to a shortage of the same grade of RAM used in the Raspberry Pi and inevitably driving up the average price.

The release of the 3GB model is a very interesting engineering strategy. RAM is typically sold in binary numbers (2, 4, 8). A 3GB version might utilize a smaller memory size that's in lower demand, or it could be a way to manage stock for the best possible price. This marks the first time in Raspberry Pi history that an odd-numbered memory option has been offered.

The increased cost of the AI ​​HAT+ and higher-end RAM models may cause Edge AI developers and self-hosted home server groups to increasingly consider competitors like the Orange Pi or used mini PCs. This presents a major challenge for Raspberry Pi in maintaining its existing customer base accustomed to the concept of a "budget computer."

The price increase of the 16GB model to $100 reflects the fact that the Raspberry Pi 5 is increasingly being used in professional/industrial settings. This group tends to be more accepting of price adjustments than the education or hobbyist groups.

 

Pretext The High-Performance Text Engine Exploding on GitHub

 

Source: Raspberry Pi 

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Raspberry Pi Announces Second Price Hike for 2026 Amid Surging Memory Costs

Raspberry Pi has officially announced another round of price increases across its high-performance product lines. Following a previous hike earlier this year, the foundation cites the continuing global surge in RAM prices as the primary driver behind this adjustment. The price changes primarily affect models with 4GB of RAM or higher, including the latest flagship boards and industrial modules.

Affected Products and New Pricing

The price adjustments vary by model and memory capacity, with higher-spec versions seeing the most significant increases:

• Raspberry Pi 4 & 5: The 4GB model increases by $25, the 8GB model by $50, and the top-tier 16GB (exclusive to Pi 5) jumps by $100.

• Raspberry Pi 500 Series: Both the standard 500 and the advanced 500+ (standalone and kits) see increases of $50 and $150, respectively.

• Compute Modules (CM4, CM4S, CM5): Prices have climbed across the board, ranging from an $11.25 increase for 1GB models to a $100 hike for the 16GB CM5.

• AI HAT+ 2: The recently launched AI accelerator also sees a $50 price bump.

The "3GB" Alternative

To mitigate the impact on users who need more than 2GB but cannot justify the new 4GB price point, Raspberry Pi has introduced a new 3GB variant of the Raspberry Pi 4. Priced at $83.75, it serves as a middle ground between the 2GB model (remaining at $55) and the newly priced 4GB model (now $100).

What Remains Unchanged?

Legacy products and lower-memory tiers, including the Raspberry Pi 400, and the 1GB/2GB versions of Pi 4 and 5, will maintain their current pricing. Older products utilizing LPDDR2 memory are also unaffected due to stable existing stockpiles. The organization encourages users to re-evaluate their projects to see if these more affordable, lower-RAM models meet their requirements.

Raspberry Pi maintains that these price hikes are a temporary measure and intends to lower prices once the global semiconductor and memory markets stabilize.

 The reason for the soaring RAM prices isn't just due to production issues. It's also because tech giants worldwide are snapping up high-performance memory (HBM and LPDDR5) for their AI data centers, leading to a shortage of the same grade of RAM used in the Raspberry Pi and inevitably driving up the average price.

The release of the 3GB model is a very interesting engineering strategy. RAM is typically sold in binary numbers (2, 4, 8). A 3GB version might utilize a smaller memory size that's in lower demand, or it could be a way to manage stock for the best possible price. This marks the first time in Raspberry Pi history that an odd-numbered memory option has been offered.

The increased cost of the AI ​​HAT+ and higher-end RAM models may cause Edge AI developers and self-hosted home server groups to increasingly consider competitors like the Orange Pi or used mini PCs. This presents a major challenge for Raspberry Pi in maintaining its existing customer base accustomed to the concept of a "budget computer."

The price increase of the 16GB model to $100 reflects the fact that the Raspberry Pi 5 is increasingly being used in professional/industrial settings. This group tends to be more accepting of price adjustments than the education or hobbyist groups.

 

Pretext The High-Performance Text Engine Exploding on GitHub

 

Source: Raspberry Pi