PS5 slim console with detachable disc drive test kits already in the wild claims source-GameCentral-Entertainment – Metro

Is the PS5 headed for a major makeover? (pic: Sony)

A new slimline version of the PS5 could be out by next summer and announced ‘soon’ according to the latest rumours.

Normally you’d expect to hear about a new slimline version of a console around three years after its initial release. There’s been nothing normal about the launch of the PlayStation 5, but a new model is rumoured to be on the way, and its reveal may be sooner than many expect.

The PlayStation 5 has had a number of minor variations already, but none of them have been advertised as such and most people wouldn’t notice the difference.

The slimline model though is described as being ‘slimmer and lighter’ and available with or without a detachable disc drive. That’s still claimed to be the case, except that now prototype models are out in the wild and already being tested by Sony.

The slimline console supposedly uses a new ‘D’ chassis, which Sony intends to manufacture 18.5 units of before the end of March 2024. Considering they’ve only made 12 million of the A, B, and C chassis models that is a lot of PlayStation 5s.

Previous rumours suggested that the new model will be released in the middle of Sony’s next financial year, which would put it around September 2023.

The rumours have been spread by Tom Henderson, who has proven to be a very reliable source in the past and yet this one doesn’t seem to have been corroborated by anyone else yet. That’s surprising, given it will be increasingly difficult for Sony to hide changes to its manufacturing plans, as it ramps up production.

Henderson’s most recent update claims that not only is the console ‘in people’s hands’ but that it ‘works flawlessly’, suggesting that it’s ready to be sold to customers.

There’s no indication of whether it will be cheaper than the current model but presumably one of the benefits of the detachable disc drive is that the console can be sold without one, for a reduced price.

That said, the whole question of why it has a detachable drive hasn’t really been addressed, other than presumably to enable people to upgrade to larger storage options more easily.

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