Costs $90, physically looks just like 400 (no pointing device), has 8gb ram and includes a 32gb microsd card. CPU is similar to Raspberry Pi 5. There is a desktop kit for $120. So it's a $20 increase over the Pi 400, but you get an extra 4gb of ram, and an SD card. There is also a 15.6" HDMI monitor available for $100 that draws power from the computer. It's not clear to me if there is an NVMe SSD slot in the computer. It's disappointing that there is still no pointing device.
They have also decreased the 400's price from $70 to $60, and the 400 desktop kit (400+16gb sd card+power cube+mouse) from $100 to $80. I have a 400 and it is nice, but of course the 500 is a significant upgrade
Added: from this comment, "Jeff geerling just did a teardown (on his “level 2 jeff) channel and it seems there is provision on the board for a M.2 slot, but the slot and it’s support components are not populated. He actually soldered down a M.2 connector but then realised that it wasn’t just the slot that needed populating." What a pain. There are other comments speculating on a future model with a slot.
Because of the lack of M2 slot and pointing device, I'd have to carefully weigh getting a Pi 5 and external keyboard instead of a 500.
I guess they might be referring to this.
TLDR: The RPi5 draws up to 5A at 5V which is USB-C PD conform, but it is quite an uncommon combination, so it's hard to find third party power supplies.
Hm, okay. I think I understand where @elucubra is coming from now. Thanks for this.