In late 2024, the Raspberry Pi Foundation launched the Raspberry Pi 500, integrating its latest Raspberry Pi 5 single-board computer into a keyboard with useful, everyday-use ports for quick and easy usage as a computer. Today, the company brought out an enhanced version of that release, calling the new Raspberry Pi 500+ its "most polished product yet."
Ditching the old membrane design, the new keyboard housing the computer features mechanical keys using Gateron KS-33 Blue switches with custom RAL 7001 Silver Grey stems. Each key is equipped with an RGB LED that can work in unison to offer programmable backlighting. "Each custom-designed low-profile keycap is spray painted and then laser etched to allow the backlight to shine through the legend," adds the company.
For those who want to use their own keys, the foundation confirmed that the 500+ keyboard is compatible with "most aftermarket keycap sets," with even a key puller being included in the package.
Looking at the internals, the Pi 500+ has a 2.4GHz quad-core Arm Cortex-A76 CPU and 16GB of LPDDR4X-4267 SDRAM inside it. It also has a 256GB M.2 SSD with Raspberry Pi OS preinstalled, alongside a separate microSD card slot. A prying tool is bundled with the package for opening the keyboard and accessing its insides and swapping out parts.
The device also features Bluetooth 5.0, dual-band Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet, a 40-pin GPIO header, and two micro HDMI ports with 4K 60FPS support.
The Raspberry Pi 500+ is now available with a $200 price tag. The company also sells a $220 Desktop Kit edition that bundles with it the Raspberry Pi Mouse, the official 27W USB-C Power Supply, a 2-meter micro HDMI to HDMI cable, and a physical copy of the Raspberry Pi Beginner"s Guide 5th Edition.