Ever since Sony confirmed the imminent arrival of PlayStation 5, tons of speculation has been circulating around the internet regarding the much coveted PlayStation 4 successor. Thanks to Sony, not all we know about the next PlayStation is pure hearsay. The company has dropped snippets of information about the next gen flagship console. While we didn’t expect anything from Sony out of E3, below is everything we know about the PlayStation 5 thus far.
PLAYSTATION 5 SPECS PREDICTION
PlayStation 4 Lead System Architect Mark Cerny sat down with Wired in April and dropped the bomb that Sony is indeed working on a new console. There will be no more upgrades to the existing 4th generation console; this is the end of the line for PlayStation 4. Cerny gave a brief overview of the specs we can expect to see on the new PlayStation.
- CPU and GPU: The CPU will be powered by an 8 core third generation AMD chipset built using Ryzen architecture. The GPU will be a modified version of the Radeon Navi series. The system will be ray tracing compatible, which is a high end lighting effect exclusively used in modern Hollywood blockbusters. It is also rumored that the PS5 will have 8K TV support.
- Audio: No concrete details has been revealed as of yet, but Cerny promised the new PlayStation will reach a milestone with its impeccable sound quality. The immersive 3D sound will be fueled by the AMD processor; no additional hardware will be used. It could work like the Dolby Atmos system or be a more headphone oriented system like Sony’s very own 360 Reality Audio or Creative’s SXFI technology.
- Storage: Sony announced they will be using a new SSD on PlayStation 5 that can speed up the loading time of a game by up to 19 times. It hasn’t been confirmed whether the SSD will be the solitary storage system or supplementary to a conventional hard disk. A demo footage shown by Cerny to WIRED showed the new SSD loading a Spider Man level in less than a second!
- Cloud Compatibility: Cloud gaming has never been Sony’s strong suit. In an unforeseen partnership between Microsoft and Sony, Sony would be able to access Microsoft Azure, Microsoft’s own cloud computing service. Previous incarnations of PlayStations had no cloud compatibility and limited streaming options.
- Backward Compatibility: The PS5 has been confirmed to have backwards compatibility. Now, hold your horses, but it appears that this will only include PS4 games. It will not extend to older versions i.e. PS3, PS2 or PS One.
PRICE
Mark Cerny revealed in a Twitter conversation that the company plans on making the new PlayStation available at a “suggested retail price that will be appealing to gamers in light of its advanced feature set.” PlayStation 4 pro hit the market with a $399 price tag. Given the latest features, I believe the price will be higher than that, but it won’t be as much as the whopping $599 they charged for PS3. $499 is the likeliest price, according to me.
PLAYSTATION 5 RELEASE DATE
According to reports, Sony have no plans to debut PS5 before May 2020. That makes next year’s E3 convention the perfect launching occasion for Sony, should they decide on attending the event next season. This sets a potential June 2020 release date.
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