Quartz64: Pine64 launches an alternative to the Raspberry Pi with PCIe expansion

Pine64 has revealed details about its latest single-board computer (SBC), the Quartz64. The device relies on ARM chipsets and will be available in two variants, the Model A and Model B. The company has revealed less about the Model B than the Model A, but the former will be roughly the size of a Raspberry Pi Model B. The SBC will have a 40-pin GPIO header, an M.2 PCIe slot and on-board Bluetooth/Wi-Fi, among other features. Pine64 will provide more details about the Model B in due course.

By contrast, the Model A measures 133 x 80 x 19 mm and runs on a Rockchip RK3566 quad-core SoC. The SBC will be configurable with 2 GB to 8 GB of LPDDR4 RAM and up to 128 GB of eMMC flash storage. There is also an SPI flash memory module though, along with a microSD card reader and a SATA 2.0 port.

Moreover, the Model A has an HDMI 2.0a port, 4-lane eDP, 4-lane MIPI DSI and an SPI touch panel port. Additionally, the board supports Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and has a 40-pin GPIO header. One of the Model A's highlights is its PCIe slot though, in our opinion. This slot supports the PCIe 2.0 1x interface, for reference. Pine64 states that the Model A will support various Linux versions and Android 11 among other OSes, in terms of software.

Pine64 is yet to confirm when the Model A or Model B will be available to order. However, we will update you when this changes.

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