RK3566
The consumer sibling of RK3568. It has the same quad A55, GPU and video engines with a reduced I/O set: one GbE MAC, PCIe 2.1 x1 only, and one USB 3.0 host. It shows up in tablets, e-readers, handheld consoles and low-cost SBCs.
- 4× Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 GHz
- 0.8 TOPS NPU
- 4K@60 decode
- Low cost
- Great mainline support
Specifications
| Architecture | ARMv8.2-A |
|---|---|
| CPU | 4× Cortex-A55 up to 1.8 GHz |
| GPU | Arm Mali-G52 2EE |
| NPU | 0.8 TOPS (INT8) |
| Memory | DDR3 / DDR3L / DDR4 / LPDDR3 / LPDDR4 / LPDDR4X, up to 8 GB |
| Storage | eMMC 5.1, SD 3.0, SPI flash, SATA / NVMe via PCIe 2.1 combo PHY |
| Video decode | 4K@60 H.265 / H.264 / VP9 |
| Video encode | 1080p@60 H.264 / H.265 |
| Display | HDMI 2.0, eDP, MIPI DSI, LVDS, RGB; dual display |
| Camera / ISP | 8 MP ISP, MIPI CSI-2 |
Interfaces
| PCIe | PCIe 2.1 x1 (combo PHY) |
|---|---|
| USB | USB 3.0 host ×1, USB 2.0 OTG + host |
| Ethernet | 1× GMAC (RGMII) |
| SATA | SATA 3.0 via combo PHY |
| MIPI | MIPI CSI-2, MIPI DSI |
| I2C / SPI / UART | Same controller family as RK3568 (package limits availability) |
| Other | I2S, PDM, PWM, SARADC |
Interface counts depend on pin-muxing and combo-PHY configuration. Verify against the official RK3566 datasheet / TRM.
Development
Very good mainline support; Pine64 and Radxa boards run close-to-mainline kernels.
Android 11/12 SDKs from board vendors.
Mainline U-Boot supports most RK3566 SBCs.
Include rk3566.dtsi. Most work: panels, touch controllers, audio codecs.
Rockchip Linux SDK and upstream Buildroot.
meta-rockchip.
Operating systems
Typical use cases
- Low-cost SBCs
- Tablets and e-readers
- Handheld gaming
- Smart home hubs
RK3566 Tutorials
Android Kiosk Mode on Rockchip Devices (Lock Task, Device Owner, Boot to App)
Turn a Rockchip Android board into a single-purpose kiosk: device-owner provisioning, lock-task mode, booting straight into your app, and what to bake into the ROM instead.
Build Mainline U-Boot for Rockchip (RK3588, RK3568, RK3399)
Build a mainline U-Boot image with TF-A and the Rockchip DDR blob, then write it to SD, eMMC or SPI flash.
Build the Rockchip Linux Kernel (Vendor BSP and Mainline)
Cross-compile a Rockchip kernel on an x86 host, install the Image, DTB and modules, and know when to choose the vendor BSP or mainline.
Configure GPIO on Rockchip: Pin Numbering, Device Tree and libgpiod
Convert GPIO3_B5-style names to Linux line numbers, drive pins with libgpiod, and describe them properly in the device tree with pinctrl and overlays.
Convert YOLO to RKNN and Run It on the RK3588 NPU
Export YOLO to ONNX, quantise and convert it to .rknn with RKNN-Toolkit2 on an x86 host, then run it on the board with RKNN-Toolkit-Lite2, using all three RK3588 NPU cores.
Flash Any Rockchip Board with rkdeveloptool (Linux & macOS)
Build rkdeveloptool from source, set up udev permissions, and flash raw images, partitions and SPI flash on Rockchip boards.
How to Identify a Rockchip SoC (from Linux, U-Boot, USB or the Chip Marking)
Five quick ways to find out exactly which Rockchip SoC and board you are dealing with, even on an unknown device.
Rockchip Boot Process Explained: BootROM, TPL, SPL, BL31, U-Boot and Linux
A stage-by-stage walkthrough of how a Rockchip SoC boots, where each piece lives on flash, and how to tell from the serial log which stage failed.
Rockchip Ethernet PHY Debugging: RGMII Delays, MDIO and Link Problems
No link, link but no traffic, or heavy packet loss on a Rockchip GMAC? Diagnose PHY detection, RGMII timing, clocks and reset in a systematic order.
Boards using RK3566
Pine64 Quartz64 Model A
Pine64
- RAM2 / 4 / 8 GB LPDDR4
- Ethernet1× Gigabit
- PCIeOpen-ended PCIe x4 slot (x1 lane, PCIe 2.1)
Orange Pi 3B
Shenzhen Xunlong (Orange Pi)
- RAM2 / 4 / 8 GB LPDDR4/4X
- Ethernet1× Gigabit
- PCIeM.2 M-key PCIe 2.0 x1
Radxa ZERO 3W
Radxa
- RAM1 / 2 / 4 / 8 GB LPDDR4
- EthernetNone (ZERO 3E variant has Gigabit)
- PCIeNone
Compare RK3566
RK3566 FAQ
What CPU does the RK3566 have?
The RK3566 uses 4× Cortex-A55 up to 1.8 GHz (ARMv8.2-A), built on a 22 nm process.
Does the RK3566 have an NPU, and how many TOPS?
Yes. The RK3566 NPU is rated at 0.8 TOPS (INT8). Models are converted to .rknn with RKNN-Toolkit2 and run with the RKNN runtime.
What memory does the RK3566 support?
DDR3 / DDR3L / DDR4 / LPDDR3 / LPDDR4 / LPDDR4X, up to 8 GB.
Does the RK3566 support PCIe and NVMe SSDs?
Yes: PCIe 2.1 x1 (combo PHY). NVMe SSDs work on PCIe lanes routed to an M.2 M-key slot, provided the controller, PHY, power and reset are enabled in the device tree.
Which operating systems run on the RK3566?
Linux (vendor & mainline), Android 11 / 12, Debian, Ubuntu, Buildroot, Yocto. Very good mainline support; Pine64 and Radxa boards run close-to-mainline kernels.
What video can the RK3566 decode and encode?
Decode: 4K@60 H.265 / H.264 / VP9. Encode: 1080p@60 H.264 / H.265.
Which boards use the RK3566?
Boards in our database include Pine64 Quartz64 Model A, Orange Pi 3B, Radxa ZERO 3W. See the hardware database for full specs.
What is the RK3566 used for?
Typical applications: Low-cost SBCs, Tablets and e-readers, Handheld gaming, Smart home hubs.
Documentation & official resources
- Rockchip official website
- Rockchip open-source wiki
- rockchip-linux on GitHub (kernel, U-Boot, rkbin, tools)
- Mainline U-Boot: Rockchip board docs
- linux-rockchip kernel tree (mainline SoC support)
- RKNN-Toolkit2 & runtime (airockchip)
Have a RK3566 question not covered here? Ask the community or browse RK3566 questions.
Spotted an error or have something to add? Suggest an improvement.
Designing with RK3566?
Schematic and carrier-board design, BSP bring-up, device tree, drivers and AI integration for RK3566-based products.