Early versions of the Raspberry Pi could only boot from SD cards, but newer ones can boot from any USB device, like an external drive or USB stick. Here's how.

USB boot has been possible since the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B (v1.2), but it has only become really worthwhile with the Pi 4. Here is some information, tips, tricks and opinions explaining why and how.

You can now boot the Raspberry Pi 3 from just about anything. The documentation for these new boot modes goes over the process of how to put an image on a USB thumb drive.

Sarah Tew/CNET The entry-level Raspberry Pi, known as the Model A, is equipped with 256MB of RAM, a single USB port, and doesn't have an Ethernet port, while the $35 (£24.35 in the UK, and ...

The Pi 3 Model B+ changes this by replacing the USB and Ethernet controller with a LAN7515.

Once installed, updated and upgraded, the combination of Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ and latest Raspbian is great – zippy and usable. For day-to-day stability, watch this space.

Of the 19 million Raspberry Pis sold to date, more than 9 million have been Pi 3 Model B flavors. But the first Pi to rock integrated wireless connectivity is now a little over 2 years old.