Raspberry Pi’s latest HAT holds a 30mm M.2 SSD

Raspberry Pi sells little add-on boards that match on prime of the tiny laptop. This sort of board is known as a hat. Pardon me, it’s HAT for “{hardware} on prime.” C’mon, that’s freakin’ cute. Anyway, the most recent one is an add-on M.2 slot simply large enough for the smallest customary drive (a 2230, 30mm lengthy). That’s the identical one which goes in a Steam Deck.

Raspberry Pi already had an M.2 HAT board for barely bigger 42mm drives, however that one was extra of a full-on enlargement. This one is sufficiently small that it might probably screw down and plug in beneath the peak of the assorted connections of the Pi itself. That signifies that, within the absence of another main additions to the Pi 5, you may match the M.2 HAT inside a Pi case–particularly the official case offered by the Raspberry Pi firm itself (the cutout is for the fan module), but it surely also needs to work with loads of others.

The Compact variant of the HAT+ board matches into the identical FPC connection on the Pi 5, as famous by Liliputing, making it a straightforward integration into most builds. And whereas 30mm M.2 drives are usually much more costly than different choices, it must be a quick means so as to add numerous further storage. The brand new HAT is on sale now from numerous suppliers.