SBC

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B specs, pinout & datasheets

Single-board computer · Raspberry Pi · Released February 2016

The first 64-bit Raspberry Pi and the first with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on board, at the same $35.

Photo: Evan-Amos, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Chip / SoC: Broadcom BCM2837 (BCM2837B0 in boards built from January 2019; board revision unchanged at 1.2)
CPU: 4 × Cortex-A53 (ARMv8, 64-bit)
Clock: 1.2 GHz
RAM: 1 GB
Storage: microSD card
Wireless: 2.4 GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.1 and BLE
I/O voltage: 3.3 V
Released: February 2016
Status: In production

Specs checked against the cited sources on 1 October 2026 (AI-assisted source check). Spotted a mistake? Use the form at the end of the page.

Specifications

14 specs

Chip / SoC: Broadcom BCM2837 (BCM2837B0 in boards built from January 2019; board revision unchanged at 1.2)^[7]
CPU: 4 × Cortex-A53 (ARMv8, 64-bit)^[2]
Clock: 1.2 GHz^[2]
RAM: 1 GB^[1]
Storage: microSD card^[1]
GPIO: 40-pin header^[1]
I/O voltage: 3.3 V^[3]
Input voltage: 5 V via micro-USB^[1]
Wireless: 2.4 GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.1 and BLE^[1]
Ethernet: 100 Mb/s^[1]
USB: 4 × USB 2.0^[1]
Video: HDMI; composite on the 3.5 mm AV jack; DSI display connector^[1]
Expansion: CSI camera connector^[1]
Launch price: US$35^[5]

Can I still use it?

1 platforms

Raspberry Pi OS: Supported^[6]32-bit and 64-bit images.

As published by each project, checked weekly. A platform not listed has no published information here, which is not the same as no support.

Datasheets and documents

2 documents

Raspberry Pi hardware documentationGuide
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B reduced schematicsSchematic

Pinout

40 pins

Raspberry Pi 40-pin GPIO header^[3]

Power
Ground
GPIO
Special
Not connected

Pin table (40 pins)

J8 (40-pin GPIO)
Pin	Label	Kind	Functions
1	3V3	Power
2	5V	Power
3	GPIO2	GPIO	I2C1 SDA
4	5V	Power
5	GPIO3	GPIO	I2C1 SCL
6	GND	Ground
7	GPIO4	GPIO	GPCLK0
8	GPIO14	GPIO	UART TXD
9	GND	Ground
10	GPIO15	GPIO	UART RXD
11	GPIO17	GPIO
12	GPIO18	GPIO	PCM CLK, PWM0
13	GPIO27	GPIO
14	GND	Ground
15	GPIO22	GPIO
16	GPIO23	GPIO
17	3V3	Power
18	GPIO24	GPIO
19	GPIO10	GPIO	SPI0 MOSI
20	GND	Ground
21	GPIO9	GPIO	SPI0 MISO
22	GPIO25	GPIO
23	GPIO11	GPIO	SPI0 SCLK
24	GPIO8	GPIO	SPI0 CE0
25	GND	Ground
26	GPIO7	GPIO	SPI0 CE1
27	ID_SD	Special	GPIO0, HAT EEPROM I2C SDA
28	ID_SC	Special	GPIO1, HAT EEPROM I2C SCL
29	GPIO5	GPIO
30	GND	Ground
31	GPIO6	GPIO
32	GPIO12	GPIO	PWM0
33	GPIO13	GPIO	PWM1
34	GND	Ground
35	GPIO19	GPIO	PCM FS, SPI1 MISO
36	GPIO16	GPIO	SPI1 CE2
37	GPIO26	GPIO
38	GPIO20	GPIO	PCM DIN, SPI1 MOSI
39	GND	Ground
40	GPIO21	GPIO	PCM DOUT, SPI1 SCLK

Gotchas

3 known issues

Undervoltage under load. Raspberry Pi recommends a 2.5 A supply. Thin micro-USB cables can drop the voltage below the 4.63 V detection threshold, which logs an undervoltage warning.^[4]
3.3 V only. The GPIO pins are 3.3 V. Do not connect 5 V signals or components to them.^[3]
Little current per pin. Each GPIO pin can supply up to about 16 mA and all pins together about 50 mA; drive motors and other loads through a transistor or driver board.^[4]

What changed

From the specs

Since the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B

Spec	Raspberry Pi 2 Model B	Raspberry Pi 3 Model B
Chip / SoC	Broadcom BCM2836 (rev 1.1), BCM2837 (rev 1.2), BCM2837B0 (rev 1.3)	Broadcom BCM2837 (BCM2837B0 in boards built from January 2019; board revision unchanged at 1.2)
CPU	4 × Cortex-A7 (rev 1.1); 4 × Cortex-A53 (rev 1.2 and later)	4 × Cortex-A53 (ARMv8, 64-bit)
Clock	900 MHz	1.2 GHz
Wireless	—	2.4 GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.1 and BLE

Next came the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+

Spec	Raspberry Pi 3 Model B	Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+
Chip / SoC	Broadcom BCM2837 (BCM2837B0 in boards built from January 2019; board revision unchanged at 1.2)	Broadcom BCM2837B0
Clock	1.2 GHz	1.4 GHz
Wireless	2.4 GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.1 and BLE	2.4/5 GHz 802.11ac Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.2 and BLE
Ethernet	100 Mb/s	Up to 300 Mb/s, with Power over Ethernet support

Power and battery

3 facts

Recommended supply: 2.5 A^[4]
USB peripheral budget: 1.2 A^[4]
Typical bare-board draw: 400 mA^[4]

History and use today

Editorial

History

Released on 29 February 2016, the Pi's fourth birthday, the 3 Model B brought 64-bit Cortex-A53 cores and built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth at the same $35.^[5]

Still useful for

Still a solid choice for lightly loaded Home Assistant, retro gaming, kiosk displays and headless servers, and it runs 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS. Raspberry Pi will keep making it until at least January 2028.

Projects from the archive

2 builds

Sources

7 sources

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