Orange Pi AIPro (8T) is a new single board computer for AI applications that features an unnamed Huawei Ascend AI quad-core 64-bit processor delivering up to 8 TOPS (INT8) of AI inference performance, although there’s also a 20 TOPS (INT8) variant of the SoC.
The SBC comes with up to 16GB LPDDR4X and a 32MB SPI flash but also supports other storage options such as a microSD card, an eMMC flash module, and/or an M.2 NVMe or SATA SSD. The board also features two HDMI 2.0 ports, one MIPI DSI connector, a 3.5mm audio jack, two MIPI CSI camera interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet and WiFi 5 connectivity, a few USB ports, and a 40-pin GPIO header for expansion.
Orange Pi AIPro specifications:
- SoC – Huawei Ascend quad-core 64-bit processor delivering up to 8 TOPS (INT8) AI performance and equipped with an unnamed 3D GPU; Likely Ascend 310B with Arm Cortex-A76 equivalent cores, and Mali-G57 GPU
- System Memory – 8GB or 16GB LPDDR4X 3200 Mbps
- Storage
- 32MB SPI flash
- MicroSD card socket
- eMMC flash module connector for up to 256GB modules
- M.2 Key-M 2280 socket for NVMe or SATA SSD
- Video Output
- 2x HDMI 2.0 ports up to 4K @ 60 FPS
- 2-lane MIPI DSI FPC connector
- Camera interfaces – 2x 2-lane MIPI CSI connectors compatible with Raspberry Pi cameras
- Audio – 3.5mm headphone+mic jack
- Networking
- Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port
- Dual-band WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 module plus two antenna connectors
- USB – 2x USB 3.0 ports, 1x USB 3.0 Type-C port, 1x micro USB port (for UART console)
- Expansion – 40-pin GPIO header
- Misc
- Power and Reset buttons
- 2x “startup mode toggle key” (that’s for boot device selection)
- 12V fan connector
- Power Supply
- Up to 20V (65W) via USB-C PD port
- 2-pin header for LiPo battery, on-board charging IC
- Dimensions – 107 x 68 mm
- Weight – 82 grams
I initially thought the AI SoC might have been the Huawei Ascend A310 released a few years ago, but the specifications are different, and I was eventually told the chip is an Ascend 310B quad-core Armv8 CPU (Arm Cortex-A76 equivalent) and Mali-G57 GPU. The Orange Pi AIPro has been sold in China for a couple of years, and it was even initially announced with a 20 TOPS version of the SoC.
Orange Pi has now translated the product page into English, and you’ll find the user manual in English and links to Ubuntu and openEuler images in the Download section. So it should be much easier to get started for people who can’t read simplified Chinese. The company also designed a new Orange Pi AIPro (20T) with a 20 TOPS Huawei Ascend SoC, up to 24GB RAM, and a fairly different layout. The product page is up, but it’s not available for sale on AliExpress or Amazon at this time.
The company initially launched the Orange Pi AIPro on JD.com in China, and Orange Pi previously told us the board would not be sold outside of China. But well over one year has passed, and it looks like the company changed its mind/or got authorization from Huawei, and the Orange Pi AIPro (8T) with 16GB RAM can be purchased on AliExpress $143.99 and soon Amazon.
Thanks to TLS for the tip.
Updated: The post was initially published on December 4, 2023, and updated once the product page in English became available and the board started to be sold on AliExpress and Amazon.
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.
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