Raspberry Pi 5 – 16GB RAM

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Price and RAM Shortage

  • The $300–350 price for the 16GB Pi 5 is widely viewed as “insane,” but many commenters stress this is almost entirely driven by RAM costs, not the SoC or board.
  • The specific LPDDR4X chips used at this density are said to have gone up as much as 700%, pulled into data center and AI demand.
  • Some argue the 16GB model should perhaps have been quietly withdrawn to avoid giving the impression that “a Pi 5 costs $300+,” but others note long‑term supply obligations make that hard.

Value vs Alternatives

  • Many compare the 16GB Pi 5 to Intel N100/N150 mini PCs, used Optiplex/ThinkCentre/NUC boxes, thin clients, and used laptops (often with 16GB RAM and SSD) that cost the same or less and are far faster.
  • For general desktop, home server, or light compute, consensus is that x86 mini PCs now beat the Pi 5 on performance per dollar, often with storage, case, PSU, and cooling included.
  • Others point out that those devices lack native GPIO and often have shorter product lifecycles.

Target Market and Use Cases

  • Several people call the 16GB Pi 5 “RAM with a Pi attached” and a niche‑of‑a‑niche product; most projects should use 1–4GB models, Zero/Zero 2, or microcontrollers.
  • Concrete high-end use cases include industrial/embedded systems and advanced field deployments (e.g., thermal-imaging wildlife cameras with on‑device AI inference, long‑term autonomous operation, secure boot).

Ecosystem, Form Factor, and I/O

  • Strong software support, long-term availability (decade‑scale), standardized GPIO header, PoE support, and rich HAT/accessory ecosystem are repeatedly cited as the Pi’s enduring advantages.
  • USB‑A vs USB‑C is debated: some want modern USB‑C I/O; others note the installed base of USB‑A peripherals is still huge.

Hobbyist/Education vs Industrial

  • Multiple comments note that only ~25% of Pis now go to enthusiasts/education; ~75% serve industrial/embedded applications.
  • Some lament that the original “$35 educational computer” vision has been eclipsed; others counter that cheap models (Zero, 1–2GB Pi 4/5) still fulfill that role.

Availability and Vendor Pricing

  • Adafruit is called out as notably more expensive than some other official resellers (e.g., Microcenter), effectively adding a “tax” but providing strong documentation and support.
  • Stock and pricing vary by region; some Zero 2 W variants are hard to find or significantly marked up.