Raspberry Pi has announced price increases across several of its popular single-board computer models — citing a sharp rise in global memory (RAM) costs. The company says the surge in RAM prices, driven by booming demand from AI infrastructure and memory-hungry data centers, has put pressure on its supply chain. Raspberry Pi
Along with the hike, Raspberry Pi has introduced a new lower-cost 1 GB variant of the latest model to help maintain accessibility for budget-conscious users.
What’s Changing: New Prices for Raspberry Pi Boards
As per the November–December 2025 update from Raspberry Pi:
| Model | Old Price | New Price |
|---|---|---|
| Raspberry Pi 4 (4 GB) | US$ 55 | US$ 60 |
| Raspberry Pi 4 (8 GB) | US$ 75 | US$ 85 |
| Raspberry Pi 5 (1 GB) | — | US$ 45 |
| Raspberry Pi 5 (2 GB) | US$ 50 | US$ 55 |
| Raspberry Pi 5 (4 GB) | US$ 60 | US$ 70 |
| Raspberry Pi 5 (8 GB) | US$ 80 | US$ 95 |
| Raspberry Pi 5 (16 GB) | US$ 120 | US$ 145 |
Raspberry Pi also raised prices of some of its Compute Module variants.
What’s Causing the Price Hike: RAM Shortage & AI Demand
- The core reason is a global memory shortage. Demand for DRAM — especially from AI data centers building massive server farms — has surged, drawing supply away from “commodity” memory used in devices like Raspberry Pi
- According to Raspberry Pi, costs for LPDDR4 memory recently increased sharply, making it unsustainable to maintain previous board prices.
- The company says these increases reflect an “exceptional” market condition, and hopes to rollback prices once memory market stabilizes.
What This Means for Raspberry Pi Users and Makers
- Higher cost for hobbyists and DIY projects. Raspberry Pi has long been popular for hobbyist projects, small servers, education, IoT — many users may now find the boards less “budget-friendly.”
- Possible shift to lower-RAM or older models. The new 1 GB Raspberry Pi 5 aims to keep entry-level access alive.
- Delays or higher cost for Pi-based deployments. For people using Pi for clusters, home automation, or embedded systems — the increased cost may hit tight budgets.
- Wider ripple effect on electronics DIY and small-scale manufacturing. As memory pricing impacts even cheap boards like Raspberry Pi, it signals cost pressure across consumer electronics.
Outlook: Is This a Temporary Crisis or Long-Term Shift?
The memory-market crunch seems tied to rapidly increasing demand from AI infrastructure and large data centers. As firms build more AI capacity, standard DRAM chips are under pressure. Reuters
Raspberry Pi’s leadership calls the price hikes a temporary measure, contingent on memory prices normalizing.
But with AI demand still rising, the pressure on memory supply may persist — meaning prices could remain elevated for months, or until DRAM manufacturers scale up production significantly.
What Raspberry Pi Could Do — And What Users Should Consider
- Watch for announcements from Raspberry Pi about price reversals once memory supply improves.
- For budget-conscious or educational users, consider the new 1 GB Pi 5 model as a lower-cost option for lightweight tasks.
- For heavy projects (servers, media centers, IoT hubs), plan budget accordingly — or evaluate alternatives (old stock Pi boards, SBCs from other vendors).
- Expect possible ripple-effects in related hardware — more expensive memory modules, accessories, and peripheral components.
External Sources to Link For Credibility:
- Raspberry Pi’s official price update post
- Tech media coverage (TechSpot, Phoronix, The Verge, PCWorld) on price hikes and RAM shortage.
- Industry-wide reports on DRAM shortage due to AI infrastructure demand.
Feature image idea: A photograph of a Raspberry Pi board (Pi 5) placed next to RAM chips with a red “price up” arrow overlay — representing rising memory costs affecting Pi hardware.
