Even Microsoft Is Expecting a Revised PS5 Hardware Model This Year

The thing I don't understand about this detachable disc drive talk is that Sony hasn't even said a word about it. They would've mentioned this at the showcase next to the Project Q and earbuds if there was going to be a major hardware revision in future. At this stage it's all still a rumour.

First thought is what does this have to do with the case lol.
Though I guess it's the usual time for some sort of new cheaper version, if advancements in tech actually allow it.

I'm good with my PS5 that I got roughly 7 months after launch. I do wish it was as whisper quiet as it should be, likely due to the coil whine, but it's been good otherwise. The look of it has grown on me quite a bit over the months as well. Who knows what this would be besides it probably having a detachable hard drive anyways.

What is a PS54?

If it's more powerful I'll be a bit cheesed off. But if Team Asobi release a full length astrobot game I'll forgive them.

Isn't this just Microsoft speculating based off the same rumors we've all heard about for months? How does this lend credence to those rumors? This news doesn't seem to actually reveal anything.

@Mio_Nakashima Why would they mention a console refresh, months before release, while they’re still trying to sell the current version? If they did that, most people would just hold onto their money and wait for the newer version of the console.

@IslandLogic That never stopped people from buying the OG PS4 when the slim & Pro were announced. The reason why is this detachable drive probably isn't going to be a thing.

Cool, I'm smarter than Microsoft because I know there won't be a slim 2023.

PS A detachable disc version has nothing to do with a slim version

Yeah defo for a PS54 slim

@themightyant Sony will definitely need more than 2 months to explain to the average consumer why they need to buy this add-on over the base disc system. 🤣

If that is the price of the Q then it’s DOA.

Hardware revisions are not a new thing though as every console have always had things changed that differ from the original hardware that shipped. Even if its only more efficient capacitors or better cooling methods etc thats still a hardware revision. Granted from the sounds of this its more dramatic but lets stop pretending this is a new thing..

@KilloWertz i've had my ps5 for just over 2 years now and its as silent as it was day one. Its always made a little bit of noise when the drive boots up a disc but what is this coil whine? I sit about 6 feet away from the desk that houses my tv,ps5 and pc and i've never heard it..not once.

It’s not a surprise, this happens with both PlayStation and Xbox.

@Northern_munkey It does indeed have coil whine, mine had too, but faded after a while. Think it's coming from the power supply.
Many people reported on this.

@Sil_Am fair enough its just i've never experienced it myself but i do keep my ps5 very clean (i have ocd about things collecting dust.) I have a msi gtx970 in my ancient pc and that is supposed to have loud coil whine but again i've never heard it myself..maybe i need to sit inches away from them so i can be part of the experience lol.

I will hold off from this revision until they anounce PS5Pro Pro.

Smooth 8k120fps with ray tracing. I'm just hoping there will be a LOTR: Gollum patch to go with the console revision

@Czar_Khastik You’re thinking of the PS8, bro.

I couldn’t care less about the Slim version or a detachable disc-drive, however, I’ll gladly switch out my launch day PS5 with, frankly pretty nasty, coil whine with a PS5 Pro.

@Northern_munkey what a coincidence, I used to have GTX 970 when I had a PC. It had coil whine but only when pushed hard.

Detachable disc drive would be useless. "but what if people want to buy physical copies in the future?" Well then buy the PS5 with a disc drive. It's probably just going to be a "pro" version. I'd rather they hold off on one until they make enough games to justify a more powerful console.

I've already upgraded my console this gen but on the green side of things. Bought a Series X to replace my S. It feels good to be able to shop around again for cheap retail prices rather than the fixed digital prices (PS5 is also digital drive).

@Balosi

First thought is what does this have to do with the case lol.
Though I guess it's the usual time for some sort of new cheaper version, if advancements in tech actually allow it

Because Microsoft be like;
"See! SEE!! they're more successful than us, we told you! Pleeeease we need this! Waaaahh!" 😆

@Sil_Am 🤣

@Kidfried A optional disc drive seems more like something that will be easier to explain at the start of a gen (PS6) and not mid gen. If it becomes a thing on PS5 then it's going to be a mess and confusing for the non-hardcore consumer.

I’m waiting for the Pro which will probably have 8K output so everything will run at 30FPS again 😂. Joking aside I did like the PS4 Pro

"handheld version of PlayStation 5" - do they mean that joke streaming device?

Optional disc drive sounds like a sensible plan - one SKU and a (presumably?) detachable blanking plate behind which the disc drive can be installed if you want one.

As soon as the new model is announced, I can see the current DOE dropping in value rapidly. Might want to check out the trade in prices before they plummet if you have one.

There certainly needs to be a ‘slim’ type revision before I buy a PS5. The current model is just too big and weird looking. Not that I’m ready for the next (current) gen yet anyway.

I didn’t buy a PS4 until 2018, and I only bought a Switch this year. So I’m a bit behind the curve, shall we say 🤣

Personally, @xDD90x, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Microsoft didn't have a degree of some insider knowledge on these sort of things. Just as they likely do have some idea on what PlayStation games are in their later stages of development. Obviously, it's highly unlikely that things are shared in the earlier stages of development (for both consoles and games) but I would imagine that it's possible that some details are shared willingly, and maybe even a Dev Kit supplied, if the changes are so drastic that games may need to be updated in order to run smoothly on the new console...

I never normally buy the mid-generation upgrades. I am a little more interested in it this time round, but I need to know the specs first, and how much of an improvement over the current PS5 the upgrade will be. One of the reasons I am potentially interested this time round is because I really dislike the current aesthetics of the PS5. I'm hoping they go with something a little more traditional (box-like) with the upgrade...

It's more than likely going to be inferior. It'll be the same price as the digital only console and will also be digital only, with the Blu-ray drive being overpriced but ultimately cost the same as the disc version that currently exists. Maybe the Blu-ray drive will playback 8k or something just to entice.

Hopefully we all still buy the Blu-ray drive and let it be known we want our consoles to playback physical media.

@Mio_Nakashima why would it be that big of a thing? Is just a normal digital ps5 but the option of an external disc drive. In fact I would argue why they didn’t do this in the first place and then only realise the one SKU.

@Fiendish-Beaver it’s literally the same console. Only the pro version would have a different spec. That’s speculated for 2025 or sometime after.

@Mio_Nakashima I don’t see it as a mess as they won’t offer the other versions, all will be consolidated into this new one.

@Mio_Nakashima may be because they know it'll be unpopular

@GravyThief Don't worry you're not missing much (still) apart from a significantly worse user interface that looks like a failed mobile phone OS.

I think it’s a good idea unlike that handheld streaming device.

Also, anyone who thinks the revision will come with more powerful silicon inside need to stop smoking crack. You’re being silly and you’re wasting comment section space on here!

Word up, Mum

Very well, prime time for any looking to buy a PS5 now.
I know the next words will not sit well with many, but I hope they'll launch PS5 Pro by the end of next year... the current hardware will not hold out for 4-5 more years without implementing some heavy graphical sacrifices in future games, which I, for one, am not willing to swallow... I'd rather wait 2-3 years for the PC versions to play them in true 4k [email protected] fps.

If anyone does actually know it would be MS, that's why both consoles always have similar specs and come out around the same time.

@number1024 That's why I said this will most likely be how Sony launch the PS6.

@MattBoothDev Yeah, it will be unpopular and unnecessary.

I got mine launch day and its still running perfectly (touch wood) fine. So I'm good for now but I do hope the slim doesn't include this dumb stand. I hate this thing.

Sony seem intent on pumping out lots of hardware right now. Maybe they should make some games to go along with them too.

Ah, that makes sense, @number1024...

@RainbowGazelle That's what I was thinking. They haven't even made much in the way of true PS5 exclusive games that really take advantage of what the existing PS5 is capable of.

@RainbowGazelle Almost 3 years in and the PS5 is still feeling like a PS4 Pro Plus and Minus.

My PS4 is so powerful, I can play most PS5 games on it. 😏
PS5ProSlimBlack plz

Several comments on here sound like this is they’re first time reading about this on PS.🤷🏻‍♂️

My understanding, not that I have any inside knowledge, just from what I’ve read:

Not a “pro” and not a second model sold alongside the current 2 models. This 1 model will replace the 2 current models, meaning there will be no choice or option, just 1 PS5 to buy, this new digital only model. If you then want to buy a separate drive you can. The drive will not work w/ the current models.

As others have said, no reason to announce this too much in advance, there’s nothing to explain, if people want a PS5 there will only be 1 PS5 to buy. And considering how well the PS5 is selling I don’t think they’ll have any problem selling these. Spider-Man 2 will help if they get these out in time. I’d bundle it if I were them if they have a few million ready in time.

Whether we get a pro or not in the future, or a slimmer slim like the piece of junk plastic PS3 I’m still using as a blu ray player, is a topic of discussion for another time.

What if the detachable disc drive PS5 is also the slim PS5 as well, even when adding the disc drive could still be much slimmer than the base model. It's genuinely a possibility and something I've heard no one talk about at all. Base disc PS5, base digital PS5, detachable PS5, PS5 slim and PS5 pro that's a lot of potential confusing different PS5s but having the detachable PS5 also be the PS5 slim makes a lot of sense to me

@awaltzforvenus rumours are that the disk drive will work with all existing versions. Personally I'd like this to be true as I fancy having a backup drive for my PS5 (disk drive version)

If that price is true for the handheld, that's just awful. That price matches the street price on the Logitech which works with any and every platform, RP and cloud (except PS's cloud because it doesn't support Android at all) and has a battery that runs for days vs a PS-only locked one with a rumored tiny battery. Unless it supports PS Plus cloud, and they never support it on Android (why would they not do that?), who would actually buy it?

A $400 digital slim though is pretty predictable. It's like when @rjejr and I "predicted" Switch Lite in Feb/Mar 2017 and people were like "nuh uh that'll never happen." You can set your watch to some things in gaming. A PS Slim and a Nintendo Lite are two of them. The only part that's questionable is just how cheap will they make it feel? Every slim so far has felt like the dollar store version of the original console, yet is the most popular sku by far. At least it can't get worse than that PS3 super slim with the sliding lid shudder These things used to come with a price cut, but this time I'm not surprised at all that the "price cut" is just "eliminating the disk model."

Anyway, looking over the comments only highlights why this detachable disc abomination will create a headache during the mid to late gen.

@Mio_Nakashima It won't create a headache outside when all the old models are still available. This won't sell along side the existing model like SWOLED, it'll just replace both normal and digital launch models. The new model will be the only model, unless Pro is a thing again. Disc drives will simply stop being normal things to have without buying extra hardware. (Unless pro has a disc drive, but maybe they go 100% digital for both.)

Edit: If they want to get cute they can intentionally under-supply disc drives so, well, shucks, there's just no choice but to buy digitally! And conveniently convert more of the physical market to digital to their own benefit.

@NEStalgia Sony will definitely Sony the add-on if it does release mid gen and not supply enough.

@NEStalgia totally agree. This won't be an additional ps5, rather a replacement model which conveniently steers the consumer towards an all digital collection. Of course, the disc add on will be available to placate those that want to maintain physical purchases. But the base form of the ps5 moving forward will be digital only. It makes sense, from a business perspective, but it won't be of benefit to consumers and retailers of video games. Particularly as Sony has quite a strong grip over their digital marketplace and no longer sells game codes to retailers. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

@Neither_scene I'm really hoping the EU ruling with Apple starts to have a broad effect on digital walled gardens across the board. The 3 consoles and 2 mobile platforms are really the last places on earth where these monopoly company stores still exist. And that might end in EU for Apple soon. I'd like to see that whole wall crumble. It's kind of amazing it's lasted this long as it is.

@Mio_Nakashima You win the award for best use of the word "Sony" as a verb lol

@NEStalgia ""price cut" is just "eliminating the disk model.""

There are no price cuts any more. Last meaningful price cut was 3DS $249 to $169 3 months after launch. What was that like 12 years ago? They then dropped the Wii U $349 model to $299 when they discontinued the $299 model, then wondered why it never sold. Then launched the Switch at $299 and 65 years later raised the price to $349 w/ OLED and internet in the dock so you can't see the screen you paid an extra $50 for.🤑 PS5 and Xbox have gone up recently as well. So yeah, $399 digital. Thinking $99.99 for the disc drive. I am curious if it will be external or internal as @sanderson72 suggested. If it's just an internal drive it could be a bit cheaper, $79 maybe. Don't think they'd make it work on any TV like a 4k player would to watch video discs but that could be an option I suppose, Sony sells those too.

Either way, nothing is getting cheaper. Super Switch will be $399. People won't be happy.

@rjejr PS4 slim and X1S dropped price, then the pros launched for a little over launch price, and as you said WiiU dropped price by taking the black model and dropping it to white model price. So Switch, XSXS, and PS5 is the first gen not to get an actual price drop (and indeed the first to get a price increase at least outside the US.)

I don't like the future "buy your console day 1 before it goes up in price in a few years!" idea. It used to be be patient and wait for prices to come down. Now it's early bird gets the worm, everyone else pays more. Not a happy place to be.

I'm assuming it's an external drive. It wouldn't make much sense for the console to be bigger with a giant empty space and some sort of slot cover that makes it cost more to produce and transport, if it's just to make discs more appealing while they want to make discs less appealing. It'll be external. Maybe it'll clip to the side or something. Or they'll make it ugly and intrusive so nobody wants it. Though I thought they already did that on the launch model and it didn't work

Yeah the way I see this, and most markets going is higher prices, higher margin, lower sales. The future seems to be sell fewer things to fewer, wealthier people, for higher margin. IDK how that'll play out for the masses in the broader economy but that seems to be the trajectory of all things. We're dividing back into patricians and plebeians at a rapid pace. Which has always ended well and without bloodshed according to history books published after 2018.

@NEStalgia Well, you can say it about all the big corps these days. Nintendo will Nintendon't, Microsoft be Microsofting, Apple gonna crApple. One step forward two steps back.

@Mio_Nakashima oh yeah, 100% agree!

@Mio_Nakashima I still don’t think it will create the headache you are envisioning!

@Fiendish-Beaver i am with you on the design. Please don’t make the Slim or Pro need a stand to lay flat. That is just dumb. The size of the PS5 don’t bother me as much as i am sure the Pro will be close to that. But i am not much for the wing’s look it uses. I did buy the black plates from Sony and it makes it look nicer in my setup. Not sure if you have read or seen this. But i will leave it for you as it could be something and could be nothing at all. Time will tell.

https://www.psu.com/news/sony-patent-suggests-a-dual-gpu-ps5-pro-model-could-be-in-the-works/

@rjejr While it's still unofficial, the people who claim to have seen it say that it fits into the chassis so it looks fully integrated as if it should be there.
I'm assuming it slots in behind a blanking plate into an empty bay with an extra USB-C port on the back of the unit to take the connection.
Again, it's all speculation until it breaks cover and (more importantly) the price is announced too.

My Digital has coil whine, as did every PS4 I owned......and I had four in total over the years, as I bought an original PS4, then the revised PS4 with lower fan noise, then the PS4 Pro, and then the revised PS4 Pro with lower fan noise.

Sony use real nasty PSU's. I expect the Slim will also use cheap and nasty components like that, but will still buy one in the hope that it's not louder than what I have.

Perhaps they could ask Phil Spencer where he gets his power supplies from.

@Czar_Khastik I'm glad when you dream that you dream big my friend! Your talk about a whole new console generation . If you want those specs any time soon then it's time for you to build your self a gaming PC! But also know even pc and 8k is not mainstream yet. 4k on all fronts is still trying to be masterd with smooth frame rates. To be more realistic you can say nexgen should be 4k with a 120fps locked on all games.

@thefourfoldroot1 PSVR2 was DOA at the price it launched yet it didn't stop you constantly defending it

@Lexluther23 I know, I'm just being sarcastic (hence my username). What you say is the most realistic scenario, but the funny thing is: if you look at your PS5 cardboard box, you will see it says the console runs 8k and 4k120fps. I don't care about all of this, but this is some lame marketing. I understand that you can maybe run Tetris in 4k120fps and Slay the spire in 8k, but this is a really misleading marketing which I don't approve.

Also, if you look at modern games, they are mostly being released in a way that no serious quality control department would approve of. Big day 1 patches and subpar performance are ridiculous for such a next-gen machine, and also the prices of those games are not being reduced on launch even though they are an unfinished product being sold as a finished one.

The point is: either the console is not strong enough, the developers are not skilled enough or both, but don't write 8k/4k120fps on the box if you can't deliver it.

All I agree with you my friend.. it's all been a over priced and a over hyped console generation. It's all been a money grab. Maybe a 8k Blu-ray movie that's the only 8k were ever going to get out of it.. The games don't even get me started on paying $79 for some of these games to be a beta tester with a slew of incoming hot fixes. Do you know what this $79 price tag makes me do is be more selective over what games I buy by sticking with the franchise I know are good. I can't afford to take a chance on a $79 dud of a game that may not be worth nothing and I'm sure theirs been some good new one hit wonder games I've missed. But that's not my fault that's the greed of the game industry. I make two grand every two weeks yes my home and cars are paid for but I'm 40 years old have a wife and kids to take care. The cost of living is threw the rough !! Example street fighter 6 got my pre-order it was $59 a fair price plus I know the franchise is good and the the game has a rich with content It got my money so did For bidden west / God of War ragnorak/ Spiderman/ elden ring and the rest I play on my yearly sub of extra so I can afford to give games I missed a try or was weary of spending money on! This is not the customers fault gaming use to be a everybody Hobbie specially console gaming because it dident require a new video card every 2 years but even that's changed. If people would boycott these game prices like the whole USA did for bud light this ***** would stop. Theirs 2 votes in America that matter the election vote and the vote with your wallet. Then you got those kinds of people who want a ps5 pro? Why? I had the ps4 pro it wasent leaps and bounds why won't more broken promisses and hype for console that's going to cost more! Then only do maybe 5% more then the original ps5 bump that!! It's getting screwd over and people beg to get ripped off. At this point is cheaper to have a steam account and a beefy gaming pc on the side witch I do! FYI Czar feel free to send me a friend request on psn you got a good head on your shoulders wouldn't mind playing some games with you some time same name lexluther23

Didn't really see any acknowledgement in the comments, but $300 for project Q is A. LOT.

I'm interested but was expecting $200. Think I may have it delivered to a friend's house in USA and get them to ship it over to Europe for me!

@NEStalgia "The future seems to be sell fewer things to fewer, wealthier people, for higher margin"

Or, now hear me out, we give everyone credit cards whether they have worthy credit or not and let them buy $1,000 iPhones to make phone calls and $500 to play video games. What's a few thousand in debt for consumer devices when you're 50k in debt for your car, 100k in debt for college and 1 million in debt for your house? 🤷‍♂️ Whoever dies w/ the most debt wins, that's just how it is. And the class war is over, it just is. Legal weed, probably legal prostitution next, to hold off on the bloodshed revolution as long as possible. Who knows, maybe the Earth burns up in a solar flare before any of that happens?

BTW, no shade intended thrown your way about the Galaxy, this has always been my negative world ending worldview. 😝

@sanderson72 Now that you spell it out like that it does ring a bell. Seems kind of weird they would make the new PS5 body bulkier like that for an accessory a lot of people wont buy, but Sony does like it's ascetics. Then again they gave us that PSVR breakout box w/ all those cables taking up space and making a mess. Now I can't decide. 🤷‍♂️

@rjejr Did you mean ascetics or aesthetics? If the latter, how did we end up with the 'hide it behind the telly' monstrosity of the PS5? lol

Mine actually has the system name "The Tub o' Lard"! It's the only console I've not wanted to to have on show - instead I've actively stuffed it down the side of the TV unit so I don't have to look at it but I can still see it lurking with it's dodgy collar!

@sanderson72 "Did you mean ascetics or aesthetics?"

I meant to turn my autocorrect off? 😉

@Sil_Am It's also documented that there are three different fan manufacturers building PS5 fans, and one of them is known to have more coil whine than the other two. It could be that you got a noisy fan, while @Northern_munkey and I got quiet fans.

But no, you tell him the noise is definitely there - your ears are sure great to hear his coil whine in his house when he can't.

@RobN Coil whine is not from the fans, it's from the power supply.

@rjejr Hah! Easy credit is in the past but the difference is after you pay all that interest they can take the house and car back and garnish wages for the tuition but the banks just get hosed completely on the plastic. They're getting wary.

I honestly thought people would just stop going to college at some point and the universities would just collapse. I don't understand the concept of every kid spending $100k they'll never actually have, I never imagined the insanity would continue (sorry, I know that was your world. but that dinosaur should be dead, the internet exists, the dusty tomes of academia outlived their time.) At one time I thought sanity would actual prevail. Maybe the tuition ruling fixes it, maybe the next gen of kids finally wakes up and says "I'm not going in debt for that!" They should have done that 30 years ago. We created the internet for unlimited nearly free access to all the world's knowledge and all the world's experts from anywhere to everywhere. Instead that's used for twitter, cat memes, and console wars, and then kids borrow enough money to buy a house to let some stuffy clod like you read the rest internet to them and tell them to buy books at prices that make the monopoly PS Store look like a pirate den.

I honestly don't, and never will understand the debt system. I come from a world where if you don't have the cash in hand, you don't buy it. Houses have loans by necessity, nothing else does. Not even cars. If you have $500 you buy a rust-bucket. That's what you can buy. The average Walmart door greeter has more material wealth than the celebrity doctor with a deep investment portfolio because the latter is in 2 million dollars debt and the door greeter is late on a phone bill for $50. The poor are the rich and the rich are the poor. None of it makes sense. And then they can't figure out where inflation comes from. Fun fact, loans are in fact not existing money loaned out. Loans are in fact NEW money printed. So every time people get all this debt, new money is printed making everyone ELSE'S money worth less! The more you borrow, the more I lose! Can't imagine why people keep shooting at each other. Unimaginable. You'd think they'd figure this stuff out, but no, the leaders are rich, not smart. if they were smart they'd be poor and therefore in the black instead of rich and in the red.

I think the class war as a whole marxist ideology thing is dead, but the real mess is just getting started. It won't look like the old class wars, it'll be worse. As it splits back not into whole 20th century idea of rich v poor but goes back to the Baroque.... I don't think things end up pretty. With AI looming? Hoo boy. We're back to an economy where 2/3's exist on sustenance to provide luxury for 1/3. Because Rome really ended well. Not even legal weed saves that, and the hookers are for that 1/3 anyway, the walmart greeters can't afford them, and they 'll just steal PS5s to play GTA on and pretend. Forget the guns, where's the chainsaws?

@NEStalgia I'm gonna have to get back to you on that. Good though, just gotta go. 👍