Three years after the introduction of the Pi 5 let's consider the next addition to the highly successful Raspberry Pi family, namely the Raspberry Pi 6.
Here are some of the key features to expect.
More Power
The Raspberry Pi 6 will have a brand new processor. Strong rumours suggest it will be based on the ARM Cortex-A78 or A720 architecture.
We are therefore likely to benefit from a significant increase from the current 2.4 GHz clock speed to around 3.0 GHz.
This means the Pi 6 will become an even better candidate for a can-do-anything desktop replacement - especially when the Pi 600 breaks cover.
Integrated Neural Processing Unit
However, by far the biggest and most important feature is the likely incorporation of a native 12 TOPS Neural Processing Unit (NPU).
This not only removes the need for a HAT+ module, such as the $100 Raspberry Pi AI HAT+, but also delivers a faster interface, lower latency and improved power efficiency.
In fact, a processing capability of many TOPS (Trillions of Operations Per Second) would allow Pi 6 owners to run a huge range of local LLMs (Large Language Models), plus advanced computer vision applications.
Other Key Features
* Smaller (7nm or 5nm) chip fabricate design will facilitate cooler runtime operation despite the superior performance increases.
* Maximum RAM configuration is now likely to top out at 32GB, compared with the current 16GB.
* Memory storage performance could be significantly boosted, from around 100 MB/s to many thousands MB/s.
* Networking upgrades are pretty much guaranteed, probably to Wi-Fi 6E or even Wi-Fi 7, plus maybe a 2.5Gb Ethernet port.
* An enhanced USB Power Delivery would power a wider range of peripherals and add-ons.
* And retention of the 40-pin GPIO header ensures backward compatibility across applications and maker-projects based on the Pi 5 and Pi 4 boards.
When and How Much?
After initial 2026 launch optimism, it now looks likely 2027 or even 2028 is a realistic timeframe for a Pi 6 announcement - which is at least four years after the Pi 5 release.
Obviously all this extra capability will come at an increased cost. But the exact price is very difficult to predict, especially as (at the time of posting - Pi Day 2026) global RAM prices continue to escalate.
