The MagPi - February 2020

Your Letters

We love to see some of the amazing

projects that come out of Coolest

Projects events!

Power supply upgrade

I’m thinking of upgrading to a Raspberry Pi 4 this year and was

wondering what accessories I’d also need to upgrade to use it

properly. I’m currently using a Raspberry Pi 3B, and have all the

standard kit for that. I know I’ll need a new case and a micro HDMI

cable, but otherwise am I good to go? I know that sometimes a

power supply upgrade is needed, will I need a new PSU?

Jon via email

The power port of Raspberry Pi 4 is USB-C, while older Raspberry Pi

models use micro USB 2.0, so you will need some kind of upgrade to

your power solution.

Now, you don’t necessarily need to get a USB-C charger – you can

get a micro USB to USB-C adapter if your current power supply is

powerful enough. If it’s about 3 A or higher, you should be OK.

Otherwise, if you’ve got a new Android phone over the last year or

so, you may already have a USB-C PSU. These are generally powerful

enough to run Raspberry Pi 4 with few issues. Of course, if you don't

have a charger, you can grab the official power supply.

Coolest Projects

registration

I read a couple issues ago
that registration for the
American and UK versions of
Coolest Projects was open, but
registration for the International
one wasn’t yet. I assume it’s
because it’s a bit later in the
year, but do you have any idea
when we might learn news of
its opening?

Serg via Facebook

You’re in luck – Coolest Projects
International registration
opened just before we went
to print! It’s being held in
Dublin on 6 June, and it’s
available for everyone around
the world. If you want to
check out more about Coolest
Projects, and register for the
International event, head
here: coolestprojects.org/
international.

The official Raspberry Pi 4

power supply is a great

charger for USB-C devices

magpi.cc 93

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