SparkFun
Teensy 4.0
Teensy 4.0: High Performance in a Compact Form The Teensy 4.0 is a powerful, compact development board measuring just 1.4" × 0.7". It features the blazing-fa...
Teensy 4.0: High Performance in a Compact Form
The Teensy 4.0 is a powerful, compact development board measuring just 1.4" × 0.7". It features the blazing-fast 600 MHz ARM Cortex-M7 processor, built on the NXP iMXRT1062 chip — currently the fastest microcontroller available.
Maintaining the same size and pin layout as the Teensy 3.2, the Teensy 4.0 ensures broad compatibility with existing projects. At full speed, it draws approximately 100 mA, and supports dynamic clock scaling. Unlike typical microcontrollers, it maintains accurate baud rates, sample rates, and Arduino timing functions (like delay(), millis(), IntervalTimer, and elapsedMillis) even as the CPU speed changes.
Additional features include:
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Power control: A long press (5s) on an external pushbutton connected to the On/Off pin fully disables the 3.3V supply. A short press turns it back on.
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Real-time clock (RTC): With a coin cell connected to VBAT, the RTC keeps time even when the board is powered down.
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Overclocking: Teensy 4.0 can be pushed beyond its rated 600 MHz for even more performance.
Advanced Architecture
The Cortex-M7's dual-issue superscalar architecture allows it to execute two instructions per cycle, greatly improving performance — especially with optimized C++ code. It also features branch prediction, dramatically reducing overhead in loops.
The chip includes Tightly Coupled Memory (TCM):
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ITCM: 64-bit instruction fetch path
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DTCM: Dual 32-bit data access paths
Up to 512 KB of TCM enables lightning-fast memory access, while non-TCM memory is optimized for DMA, ensuring smooth operation of peripherals.
Floating Point Unit (FPU)
Unlike previous ARM microcontrollers, the Teensy 4.0 supports both 32-bit (float) and 64-bit (double) floating-point operations in hardware. This enables fast execution of mathematical functions like log(), sin(), and cos() without resorting to slow software emulation.
Note: Headers are not included with the Teensy 4.0 and must be purchased and soldered separately.
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- baud
- Baud is the signalling rate of a serial connection, often used as the speed setting for UART communication. Matching the baud rate matters because both connected devices must use the same setting for readable data.
- FPU
- A floating-point unit is hardware inside a processor that speeds up calculations with decimal numbers. This helps when projects use maths-heavy tasks such as motion sensing, filtering sensor readings, or audio processing.
- Headers
- Rows of metal pins used to plug a module into a breadboard or connect it with jumper wires. Pre-soldered headers make the module easier to use straight away without needing to solder the pins yourself.
- microcontroller
- A microcontroller is a small computer on a chip that runs your program and controls connected inputs and outputs. For this product, it is the part that reads buttons and sensors, drives the display and speaker, and communicates over Bluetooth.
- RTC
- A Real-Time Clock keeps track of time even when the main processor is asleep or powered down, usually with a small backup battery. It matters for data logging and tracking projects that need accurate timestamps.
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