Sony Teases PlayStation 5 Design
by Andrei Frumusanu on June 11, 2020 5:45 PM EST
Today during Sony’s “The Future of Gaming” show where the company and its partners revealed a slew of next-generation game titles, we also had a first glimpse of the physical design of the new PlayStation 5.
The new console is a significant departure for Sony’s console hardware which has retained a standard black design aesthetic ever since the PlayStation 2 (Although different colour scheme variants have been available). The new PlayStation 5 immediately stands out with its white-black design, as well for the fact that Sony is seemingly presenting the new console in a primarily vertical standing position.
The looks of the console are defined by an enveloping white rounded body that envelops a central glossy black middle section like some sort of cape. The black middle section at the top emits a blue light, illuminating the white side panels as well as the ventilation grills.
Today’s teaser showcased the first time what the console’s cooling hardware might look like. The new design looks to have ventilation grills throughout the whole top of the console as well as the top half of the front of the device, curving along the top corner of the design, with the grills present on both lateral sides. We don’t know if this is an exhaust or intake, or maybe even both, as we haven’t yet seen the back side of the new unit.
Sony’s presentation only showed the console in an upright position, so the design was possibly designed to be used like this in its most optimal fashion.
Another hint that the console might not be designed to be used in a horizontal position is the odd “hump” that appears where the BluRay disc drive is located. It’s a pretty unusual asymmetric design choice that inarguably will spark a lot of discussions.
Edit: Sony also showcasd the console in a horizontal position for a split second in the outro section of the show. It looks like the console is sitting on the "foot" that's depicted in the vertical position shots. This explains why the two feet look different in the previous picture - they both serve as the stands for the console in vertical and horizontal positions, with the odd shape of the foot designed to cup the round side of the console in the horizontal position, with the Digital Edition console having a different curve to it.
Sony is also announcing a Digital Edition of the PlayStation 5 which doesn’t feature a disc drive, getting rid of the hump in the design. Digital distribution has gained a ton of popularity of the last few years and Sony now releasing a digital only console certainly points out that the company envisions this trend to continue and grow.
Both console variants feature a minimalistic front – we only find a single USB-A port and a single USB-C port, alongside a power button, and for the regular version the disc eject button.
Alongside the two new PS5 variants, Sony also announced several new accessories for the console: The new DualSense controller which we’ve known for some time now, a new DualSense charging station which charges up to two controllers at a time, a stereoscopic HD camera, a media remote, and a new headset dubbed the PULSE 3D Wireless Headset.
3D audio is meant to be a big part of the new PlayStation 5 experience thanks to the console’s new audio hardware capabilities – so Sony releasing a first-party headset tied in with the console release isn’t too big of a surprise.
The Sony PlayStation 5 is scheduled to be launched this holiday season at a yet undisclosed price. It is powered by a custom AMD SoC employing 8 Zen 2 cores up to 3.5GHz, a new customised RDNA 2-based GPU with 36 CUs and up to 2.23GHz frequency, and a new ultra-fast SSD and storage architecture that is said to be multiple times faster than the best PC storage devices on the market.
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0ldman79 - Friday, June 12, 2020 - link
Resistance is futile.You will be assimilated.
iphonebestgamephone - Friday, June 12, 2020 - link
Sigh.Tams80 - Friday, June 12, 2020 - link
It's a GAME console.Mature and restrained is fine, but to expect it?
s.yu - Friday, June 12, 2020 - link
A sigh of relief. This is worlds better than that v shaped engineering model leaked previously.Tams80 - Friday, June 12, 2020 - link
You shouldn't be suffocating machines that need good airflow in an entertainment centre in the first place.As for the look; I'm sure you could buy a skin or shell out for Colorware to change it.
austinsguitar - Thursday, June 11, 2020 - link
looks horrible. why make a console stand up straight if its thin? just make it beafy already.Kangal - Saturday, June 13, 2020 - link
Standing up vertically increases the surface area, so you can get a console that's cooler, quieter, and faster all at the same time. In fact, it will also use less electricity too, since you won't have clocking inefficiencies. But it requires careful tuning, and the use of larger fans and heatsinks, as opposed to having more smaller heatsinks and smaller fans.That's what MS went for with the Xbox V/Series X. They're using vertical alignment, with a massive heat spreader, and large fans. That means it can maintain clocks much easier, whilst the more efficient cooling keeps things quiet and chilled. You're basically getting extra performance, at the same or slightly less electricity use too.
Not to mention XB1 was using an outdated DirectX API, with the XB1X not faring much better with the Premature API that is Dx12 Async. Now they have something that fares (slightly) better than Vulkan with Dx12.1 Ultimate. And MS is optimising the whole system, by going for "faster IPC" on the CPU front which is better than Sony's approach. Also going with a "wider compute" on the GPU front which is also better than Sony's approach. MS is also using a monolithic die, which is a bit more expensive, but is more efficient. We don't know, but Sony could be using a chiplet design.
In terms of SSD, this is a mixed bag.
MS's use of a proprietary expansion simply sucks, whereas PS5 will allow people to add an extra M.2 storage. Whilst the use of a proprietary internal SSD for the PS5 kinda sucks, compared to the Mainstream NVMe that MS is using. Both actually have dedicated chips for de/compression and are using modern software for it. But Sony's approach is a bit more "dedicated". And the particular drive in the PS5 is slightly faster at max 5.5GB/s (~5GB/s in use), whilst MS's is slightly slower at max 4.8GB/s (~4.5GB/s in use). So in terms of games, you can build a game that is "infinite" on the PS5 as it can stream content from the SSD within half a second, or at the same speed your character turns around in-game. The Xbox is going to be very similar, but might have a few occasions where it requires the game to pause for one second and catch up. Hence, first-party titles that have been developed and optimised for many many years on the PS5 are going to make Xbox owners jealous.
Overall, third-partly developers are going to have to "downgrade" the level design ever-so slightly to make the PS5 match the Xbox. And the opposite goes for the physics and AI, where they're going to downgrade the Xbox to match the PS5. But when it comes to graphics, it is far more malleable, so the Xbox is going to have a definite advantage there when it comes to Real-Time Raytracing, HDR, Lighting and Shadows, and probably better sustained sustained (dynamic) resolution and sustained framerates.
Kangal - Saturday, June 13, 2020 - link
Also I want to summarise:Without a doubt, the Xbox V (Series X) is cheaper, faster, quieter, uses less power, more durable, much better online servers, and has more TV functionality. On top of that, it also has superb Backwards Comparability for thousands of games ranging from the Original Xbox, the 360, Xbox One, and the XB1X... all upscaled in quality.
However, this slightly "worse" Sony console is going to outsell it.
It's got nothing to do with the gimmicks of the controller's TouchPad or PS VR. Simply put, it is because the PS5 will have the exclusive titles people really want.
I'm hyped for both teams, since this is the closest consoles have been to Gaming PCs since the initial release of the 2005 Xbox 360 (though the 2002 Xbox, the 2000 PS2, and the 1996 N64 were pretty competitive too).
quiksilvr - Monday, June 15, 2020 - link
Better online servers? Did you every try to use the Master Chief Collection? Or GTA Online? Nothing on the pricing or power consumption front has been confirmed not has anyone done decibel tests (no one has the official units out yet). Also the XBX got rid of the second HDMI port and optical port and both have CEC so I don't get what you mean by better TV functionality. We didn't see the back IO of the PS5 yet. Everything you are saying is speculative so yes there is doubt to everything you said.Kangal - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
You're 100% correct.I was trying to be a little hyperbolic, so yes, it may be inaccurate.
We might be pleasantly surprised by the individual traits and the overall package of the PS5. Or we might be shockingly disappointed by the Xbox's individual traits and/or the overall package. Or both. Those are definitely possibilities.
I was moreso dealing with "probabilities" based on the information we know, and the history associated in this segment. Sony's online servers still have more issues, and much more often than Microsofts. The 2017 XB1X was diverging away from the 2013 Xbox One when it came to TV Functionality, but, Microsoft still has Media as a core component of the Xbox platform. Sony after their problems with BluRay and the PS3 has gone the opposite direction, and they are now "for the players". So that's a probable assumption too. The way the Xbox SeX works is that it has the motherboard split into two, sandwiched by the largest heat spreader I've seen. Then a massive fan is used to cool the entire system. This philosophy is how we build Gaming Rigs. Sony has instead adopted "style" instead of practicality. They seem to have adopted small seems to release air, and the direction hints that we are looking at more fans, but smaller and less efficient fans. Also the size means the inside will house the usual things, but won't house an oversized heatsink like the Xbox otherwise it would be too top-heavy and prone to falling down hard when agitated (eg: subwoofer vibrations). Other points of efficiency lie in the software. With the PS4, Sony had a small advantage over MS by using mostly native code, whilst the Xbox One was using an outdated software version of DirectX API. The latest version, which should be called v13, but is named v12 Ultimate has basically closed the gap on Vulkan and based on history, likely to have slightly surpassed it. Also the Xbox SeX is using a monolithic die, just like your phone, and not using a chiplet design like the Ryzen desktop chips. Chiplet design is more flexible and cheaper, and Sony may have resorted to this. If they did, it would mean a slight hit to power draw and performance. So the Xbox could in fact use less electricity too, as that has been something of focus from the Redmond team lately. As for performance, I already spoke about SSD above. However, in the CPU and GPU front it is a victory for Xbox. And for price, MS has cash reserves to take a hit but Sony doesn't. This could mean a superior Xbox hardware at the same price, or maybe even lower.
Again, these are probabilities. What we should likely expect. It's kind of telling based on MS's confidence, as they have been the first to release details and openly. Whereas Sony looks like the underdog who has to obfuscate information to not seem weak. You notice how I praised the Xbox, and criticised the PS5; this isn't because I am biased, I am simply giving credit where it's due. In fact, if anything I lean closer to Sony based on my past purchases.
With all said and done, I truly am hyped for both teams... let's hope we witness some competitive spirit. It is always refreshing when consoles are giving Gaming PCs a run. We haven't had that for a long time, more than a decade (2008-2020) since the PS3/360 didn't age well against Gaming PCs (mostly a RAM issue) and the current-gen consoles were limited by CPU and originally weren't impressive by GPU either. There's no hope for Nintendo in being competitive, their entire business model is centred around nostalgia and family-fun.