This week, the official Raspberry Pi OS got its first upgrade based on Linux Debian version 11, otherwise known as Bullseye.

Amongst some key changes, one upgrade stands out: the default turbo-mode clock has increased from 1.5GHz to 1.8GHz for recent Raspberry Pi 4 devices.

The result is faster operating speeds, making this upgrade well worth getting.

Which Pi Qualifies?

If you have any 8GB Raspberry Pi 4, this upgrade will apply to you. Alternatively, if you have a 2GB or 4GB board with a switcher, i.e., a dedicated switch-mode power supply for the SoC core voltage rail, then you will also receive this speed boost.

Even if you don’t have a recent model that qualifies for the new default turbo-clock speed, the new Bullseye update will support overclocking on older models by calculating the best voltage to apply in that case.

CEO of Raspberry Pi Trading, Eben Upton, recognizes that the older, launch-variant Raspberry Pi 4 has gained a reputation for overclockability, so has offered a way to manually replicate the new operating point on it. This can be achieved by adding the following line to the config.txt file:

arm_freq=1800

This however comes with a word of caution: “Playing with clocks and voltages can render your SD card (temporarily) unbootable, so make sure you have another card (or another computer) on hand that you can boot with to restore your config.txt to good sense,” writes Eben Upton in the latest Raspberry Pi news release.

What Else Is New?

Some of the major changes with the Bullseye update include the retiring of the Raspberry Pi display and camera support in favor of Linux standards.

The new camera driver will be the Linux API libcamera while the new video driver will be KMS, previously an experimental option available on prior releases of Raspberry Pi OS.

This change is a shift away from Raspberry Pi’s proprietary closed-source code in favor of opening up development to third parties and making the entire process a bit easier.

Another significant change is an upgrade from GTK+2 to GTK+3, bringing the Raspberry Pi desktop environment more in line with other Debian applications.

Other changes include a new windows manager called mutter, an update to the way integrated notifications function, a new updater plugin, and simplified file manager options.

Score Bullseye and Get Faster Speed

Upgrading your Raspberry Pi 4 to Debian Bullseye should make it run faster, making this upgrade something to consider.

Even if you have an older model Pi 4, thanks to the new upgrade, overclocking will be supported with the new OS selecting the best voltage to use.

If you want to go ahead and upgrade to the latest Raspberry Pi OS, Eben Upton recommends downloading a new image, reinstalling any applications, and transferring your data across from your current OS image. It’s not too difficult, and there are several different ways that you can do this.