According to Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton, these price hikes were driven specifically by a lack of “alternative supply” for 16GB DRAM, on top of shortages for other components. Upton says, “Though these increases are unavoidable, we know they are unwelcome news for our customers. We encourage you to make sure you’re not paying for more memory than you need.” Upton suggested using Pis with less memory or older Pi models, as alternatives to the pricey 16GB model. Unfortunately other Raspberry Pi 5 configurations have also gotten more expensive — the 2GB version got a price hike last month.
At $385, the 16GB Raspberry Pi 5 is nearing the price of a desktop mini PC. Upton reiterated the company’s plans to reverse the price hikes, saying, “the current memory landscape is difficult but ultimately temporary, and we look forward to rolling back our price increases when memory costs fall once again.”