Adafruit Metro M7 with AirLift

Overview

The Adafruit Metro M7 with AirLift is built around NXP's iMX RT1011 ARM Cortex-M7 microcontroller running at 500 MHz, making it the fastest Metro board Adafruit has produced. Despite the speed jump, it retains the UNO-shape form factor that ensures compatibility with the vast library of Arduino shields already on the market.

WiFi connectivity is handled by an onboard ESP32 co-processor via SPI — the same AirLift approach used on other Adafruit Metro boards. The ESP32 manages TLS/SSL offloading so the main M7 core stays free for application logic. A drag-and-drop UF2 bootloader on the 8 MB QSPI Flash makes firmware updates as simple as copying a file.

A STEMMA QT connector exposes an I2C bus so you can attach Adafruit's large ecosystem of sensors and displays without soldering. A 6–12 V barrel jack or USB-C can provide power, and an onboard On/Off switch adds convenience for battery-backed projects. SWD pads are available for advanced debugging.

Note that CircuitPython support is the primary focus; the board is not compatible with the Arduino IDE or PlatformIO at this time. Adafruit distributes the board through DigiKey, Mouser, and Micro Center in addition to their own shop.