The lowest-cost Raspberry Pi 5 model has traditionally been the 4GB variant, priced at $60. However, a new 2GB Pi has been introduced at a lower price of $50. This new model is built on a cost-optimized D0 stepping of the BCM2712 application processor.

While offering a lower memory variant may not initially appear significant, there are underlying technological advancements that make it possible. The BCM2712C1 includes a quad-core Arm Cortex-A76 application processor running at 2.4GHz and the latest iteration of the VideoCore multimedia platform. However, it also contains functionality for markets other than the Raspberry Pi, using space and adding cost.

The D0 stepped version strips away this extra function, retaining only the specific parts necessary for the Raspberry Pi’s functionality. This includes the fast quad-core processor, multimedia capabilities, and PCI Express bus. Therefore, to the user, it remains functionally the same as the higher memory variant.