Raspberry Pi supercharges its keyboard PC with 16GB RAM, SSD, mechanical switches

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/09/raspberry-pi-supercharges-its-keyboard-pc-with-16gb-ram-ssd-mechanical-switches/

Andrew Cunningham Sep 26, 2025 · 2 mins read
Raspberry Pi supercharges its keyboard PC with 16GB RAM, SSD, mechanical switches
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The Raspberry Pi 500 (and 400) systems are versions of the Raspberry Pi built for people who use the Raspberry Pi as a general-purpose computer rather than a hobbyist appliance. Now the company is leaning into that even more with the Raspberry Pi 500+, an amped-up version of the keyboard computer with 16GB of RAM instead of 8GB, a 256GB NVMe SSD instead of microSD storage, and a fancier keyboard with mechanical switches, replaceable keycaps, and individually programmable RGB LEDs.

The computer is currently available to purchase from the usual suspects like CanaKit and Micro Center, and generally starts at $200, twice the price of the Pi 500.

Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton's blog post about the 500+ says that the upgraded version of the computer has been in the works since the regular 500 was released last year.

Early testers of the Pi 500 noted at the time that there was space on the motherboard—which uses the same components as a regular Raspberry Pi 5, but on a different board that allows all the ports to be on the same side—for an M.2 slot, but that there was nothing soldered to it. The Pi 500+ includes an NVMe slot populated with a 256GB M.2 2280 SSD, but that can be swapped for higher-capacity drives. Upton also notes that the system is still bootable from microSD and USB drives.

For the keyboard aficionados in the audience, know that the Pi 500+ uses a 75 percent compact layout with low-profile clicky Gateron Blue KS-33 switches, and it uses Raspberry Pi's own RP2040 controller and the QMK open source firmware, which should make it (relatively) easy to reprogram if you're into that sort of thing. The low-profile caps can be swapped out for regular ones if you find them more comfortable, though Pi enthusiast and YouTuber Jeff Geerling notes that full-height keys can bottom out and hit the keyboard deck when mounted to the low-profile switches. The switches also can't be swapped, if you want something quieter or smoother than Blues.

The rest of the spec sheet should be familiar to anyone already acquainted with the Pi 5 or Pi 500: a 2.4 GHz quad-core Cortex A76 Arm processor, integrated 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, two USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, two micro HDMI ports that support 60 Hz 4K output, a microSD slot, and a user-accessible 40-pin GPIO header for additional expandability.