Sony Announces Refreshed, Slimmer PlayStation Consoles for the Holiday Season, Increases Pricing of the PS5 Digital

[TheLostSwede]

As the holiday season approaches, we are excited to share that we have a new PS5 model launching. To address the evolving needs of players, our engineering and design teams collaborated on a new form factor that provides greater choice and flexibility. The same technology features that make PS5 the best to play are packed into a smaller form factor, along with an attachable Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Drive and a 1 TB SSD for more internal storage.

The new PS5 has been reduced in volume by more than 30%, and weight by 18% and 24% compared to the previous models. There are four separate cover panels, with the top portion in a glossy look, while the bottom remains in matte. If you purchase the PS5 Digital Edition, you can add the Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Drive for PS5 later, as it will also be sold separately for 79.99 USD | 119.99 EURO | 99.99 GBP | 11,980 JPY.




The new PS5 model will be available starting this November in the U.S. at select local retailers and direct.playstation.com where available. It will continue to roll out globally in the following months. Once inventory of the current PS5 model has sold out, the new PS5 will become the only model available.

The recommended retail prices for the new PS5 model are as follows beginning with the rollout in November at participating retailers.

• U.S.
  • PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive - 499.99 USD
  • PS5 Digital Edition - 449.99 USD
• Europe
  • PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive - 549.99 EUR
  • PS5 Digital Edition - 449.99 EUR
• U.K.
  • PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive - 479.99 GBP
  • PS5 Digital Edition - 389.99 GBP
• Japan
  • PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive - 66,980 JPY (includes tax)
  • PS5 Digital Edition - 59,980 JPY (includes tax)

A horizontal stand will be included with the new PS5 model. Also a new Vertical Stand compatible with all PS5 models will be sold separately at 29.99 USD | 29.99 EURO | 24.99 GBP | 3,980 JPY.



A variety of PS5 Console Cover colors for the new model will be available starting in early 2024, including an all-matte Black colorway and the Deep Earth Collection colors in Volcanic Red, Cobalt Blue, and Sterling Silver. Prices for the PS5 Console Covers will start at 54.99 USD | 54.99 EURO | 44.99 GBP | 7,480 JPY. Additional colors will be released in the future.

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[ymdhis]

It needs a built in tab to stay level when you sit it down horizontally! This design is so dumb.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I know it’s superficial, but I find the PS5 to be an ugly monstrosity that will not age well with time. I don’t understand what they were thinking making something so big and unmanageable in an age of small, discreet settop boxes.

 

[bonehead123]

It needs a built in tab to stay level when you sit it down horizontally! This design is so dumb.

Agreed !

Slimmer device but fatter price...go figure !

Also, the stand is $30, but the covers are $55....AND to add insult to injury, the friggin ($15) dvd drive is $80....talk about milkin da (cash) cow....geeze, do we even get some cookies with that ?

Note to Slony, I prefer chocolate chip, BTW....hehehe

 

[Chane]

So, the SSD size has been increased or are they just rounding it up? I still like the look of the digital more, but with it being so close in price to the regular model now I'll just buy the regular and pull the drive off.

 

[Lycanwolfen]

I was really hoping for a flat retro deisgn not the still standing one. I miss the PS2 and PS1 models simple and easy to use. PS3 was nice also PS4 was nice as well, but the PS5 nice system just hate the design. At least the latest Xbox allowed full backwards compatiblity. Sony seems to not care. I current I have a Ps3 orginial for the PS1 and PS2 games and PS3 but then I have a PS4 and might get a PS5 but seriously 3 consoles to play all my nice games. Xbox finally listened to gamers one console all games. Wish sony would learn that lesson.

 

[Haile Selassie]

Is this a die shrink as well? Can't imagine shrinking heatsink without a reduction in TDP.

 

[Veseleil]

imagine shrinking heatsink without a reduction in TDP.

They did it once already.

 

[THU31]

Is this a die shrink as well? Can't imagine shrinking heatsink without a reduction in TDP.

I'd expect the earlier 6 nm die, but they probably managed to refine the design. Surely 5 nm would be more expensive, since the wafers cost 60% more.

 

[ymdhis]

Agreed !

Slimmer device but fatter price...go figure !

Also, the stand is $30, but the covers are $55....AND to add insult to injury, the friggin ($15) dvd drive is $80....talk about milkin da (cash) cow....geeze, do we even get some cookies with that ?

Note to Slony, I prefer chocolate chip, BTW....hehehe

Knowing Sony you can count your blessings that it uses HDMI and USB instead of some proprietary connectors.

 

[trsttte]

This is much worse than expected. The modular drive is such a wasted oportunity to fix the original design, they should just have made it an external drive connected with a cable when needed (with the added bonus it would also be compatible with the original digital console!). Integrating it in the main box was ugly and looked like and afterthought on the original and it looks even more stupid here.

The stand situation is just embarring, back to the PS2 days of having to buy a stupid vertical stand, what the fuck is that!? And how is the digital version able to stand horizontally!?

What the hell are they smocking at sony?

the friggin ($15) dvd drive is $80

Acessories are always a rip off but it's a blu ray drive, you'll be hard pressed to find anything close to 15$ (they're cheaper for sony but anyway, it was never going to be 15$)

 

[Cheeseball]

This is much worse than expected. The modular drive is such a wasted oportunity to fix the original design, they should just have made it an external drive connected with a cable when needed (with the added bonus it would also be compatible with the original digital console!). Integrating it in the main box was ugly and looked like and afterthought on the original and it looks even more stupid here.

The stand situation is just embarring, back to the PS2 days of having to buy a stupid vertical stand, what the fuck is that!? And how is the digital version able to stand horizontally!?

What the hell are they smocking at sony?



Acessories are always a rip off but it's a blu ray drive, you'll be hard pressed to find anything close to 15$ (they're cheaper for sony but anyway, it was never going to be 15$)

The BluRay drive is fairly priced at $80, IMO. The Verbatim external BD writer is $100 and the Pioneer one with USB-C is $140, so not bad for a reader.

 

[trsttte]

The BluRay drive is fairly priced at $80, IMO. The Verbatim external BD writer is $100 and the Pioneer one with USB-C is $140, so not bad for a reader.

They could have done better, 50$ would be much more sensible and would even align with the price difference between the Digital and Disc console versions. It's only a reader that you can't use for anything else produced at scale, can't really compare with comercial solutions that also do writing.

 

[Bruno_O]

golden question

- can I use a US BD drive on another region's PS5? At least on PCs, the region locking is at the DVD/BD drive level.

For people like me that have Blu-ray discs from region 1, and would love to buy some 4k BDs.

 

[Guwapo77]

I'm just sitting here waiting on the PlayStation 5 Pro. I wonder if it will be $549.99...

golden question

- can I use a US BD drive on another region's PS5? At least on PCs, the region locking is at the DVD/BD drive level.

For people like me that have Blu-ray discs from region 1, and would love to buy some 4k BDs.

The PS5 drive isn't region locked to the best of my knowledge. I used my US PS5 in Germany. The problem comes into with the game discs themselves being locked to their PlayStation store in that region. So German games only work with the German Store. The German movies played perfectly well on both the US PS5 and my US BD worked on my German Xbox Series X.

 

[chrcoluk]

They need to retail replacement horizontal stands for old models, mine is wearing down and hard to use now. Highlighting the clumsy design that put aesthetics first.

 

[Ruru]

PSOne - looks like a toy
"PSTwo" - looks somewhat cool, but it's missing the futuristic design of the original. Also lacks the HDD bay
PS3 Slim - looks fine, but lacks the beautiful piano finish from the original
PS3 Superslim - looks like a cheap toy
PS4 Slim - the only one which looks better than the original

I know that newer versions are cheaper (and made cheaper) than the originals, but do they have to cheap out with their design too? This PS5 Slim looks like a cheap Chinese knock-off.

 

[Space Lynx]

if it doesn't use liquid metal its dead on arrival in my eyes.

 

[ilyon]

And still no DLSS™, I can barely understand such a thing in 2023.
The Switch 2 will have DLSS™...

 

[THU31]

golden question

- can I use a US BD drive on another region's PS5? At least on PCs, the region locking is at the DVD/BD drive level.

For people like me that have Blu-ray discs from region 1, and would love to buy some 4k BDs.

Just in case you didn't know, 4K BDs are not region locked. They finally came to their senses and got rid of that completely idiotic restriction.

But I don't know how the console deals with regular BDs or DVDs (where it's also a matter of PAL vs. NTSC).

 

[Haile Selassie]

if it doesn't use liquid metal its dead on arrival in my eyes.

Seriously? So if the product performs exactly as advertised, runs cool and quiet and doesn't use a certain production nightmare TIM, it's dead on arrival? Drama much?

 

[Chomiq]

I'm just sitting here waiting on the PlayStation 5 Pro. I wonder if it will be $549.99...


The PS5 drive isn't region locked to the best of my knowledge. I used my US PS5 in Germany. The problem comes into with the game discs themselves being locked to their PlayStation store in that region. So German games only work with the German Store. The German movies played perfectly well on both the US PS5 and my US BD worked on my German Xbox Series X.

PS games haven't been region locked since PS3.

UHD blu-rays aren't region locked either.

I've gotten used to the way my OG PS5 looks with dbrand's darkplates:

Looking forward to Darkplates 3.0 for the slimmer model.

 

[Space Lynx]

Seriously? So if the product performs exactly as advertised, runs cool and quiet and doesn't use a certain production nightmare TIM, it's dead on arrival? Drama much?

yeah cause I want to be able to use it 20 years from now without having to do a massive teardown. and the current PS5 already offers me that.

this isn't like a PC where its easy to change paste.

 

[Haile Selassie]

yeah cause I want to be able to use it 20 years from now without having to do a massive teardown. and the current PS5 already offers me that.

this isn't like a PC where its easy to change paste.

Creep resistant TIMs are readily available from all reputable industry sources like Dow Corning, 3M and Shin Etsu.
Graphite pads exist since the Pentium 3 days.

 

[MarsM4N]

Kinda smart how they made the drive detachable. Feared it would be a external device. Apparently the core tech specs didn't change. No reduced power consumption, only reduced size. Makes me wonder if it can stay cool at the same noise levels. Also the price didn't change, for a 3 year old console.

PSOne - looks like a toy
"PSTwo" - looks somewhat cool, but it's missing the futuristic design of the original. Also lacks the HDD bay
PS3 Slim - looks fine, but lacks the beautiful piano finish from the original
PS3 Superslim - looks like a cheap toy
PS4 Slim - the only one which looks better than the original

I know that newer versions are cheaper (and made cheaper) than the originals, but do they have to cheap out with their design too? This PS5 Slim looks like a cheap Chinese knock-off.

You forgot the Playstation 2 Slimline. IMO the best looking console, ever. Also super crazy how they shrinked it in comparison to the orig. PS2. That's what I call a revolution.