BPI-M64 Development Board is the first 64-bit Banana Pi Board

Sinovoip has gone on the Allwinner A64 and 64-bit ARM bandwagon, announcing a Pine A64+ competitor, with Banana Pi BPI-M64 (or just Banana Pi M64) with 2GB RAM, 8GB eMMC flash, Gigabit Ethernet, and more.

Banana Pi BPI-M64 board specifications:

SoC – Allwinner A64 quad core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU
System Memory – 2GB DDR3
Storage – 8GB eMMC flash (16, 32 and 64GB options), micro SD slot up to 256 GB
Video Output / Display interface – HDMI 1.4 up to 4K resolution @ 30 Hz, MIPI DSI interface
Audio – HDMI, 3.5 mm headphone jack, built-in microphone
Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet + 802.11 b/g/n WiFi & Bluetooth 4.0 (AP6212)
USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG port
Camera – MIPI CSI interface (which I guess you support parallel cameras via some kind of bridge)
Security – Hardware security enables ARM TrustZone, Digital Rights Management (DRM), information encryption/decryption, secure boot, secure JTAG and secure efuse
Expansion – 40-pin Raspberry Pi 2 somewhat-compatible header
Debugging – 3-pin UART header
Misc – IR receiver; U-boot, reset and power buttons;
Power – 5V via power barrel; 3.7V Lithium battery header; AXP803 PMIC
Dimensions – N/A

The board is said to run Android 5.1/6.0, Debian Linux, Ubuntu Linux, Raspbian image (obviously not the Raspberry Pi image), and other operating systems. Usually, when companies provide multiple operating systems like that, none of them work properly, except possibly Android. If you want to use any of the security features listed in the specs, better check with the company, as while the hardware can handle this, the required software is often not available, or requires some licenses.

There’s some technical information on the Wiki, but currently limited to hardware (PDF schematics are coming soon), and Linux and Android software documentation links only being placeholders. So far, OS images have not been uploaded to the download page either.

BPI-M64 is still work in progress, and I don’t know when it will be availability, but the company told me it would cost around $35. [Update: The board is now for sale on Aliexpress for about $50 shipped]

Thanks to tkaiser for the tip.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.