The revised PlayStation 5 model has quietly gone on sale
New hardware model, first listed in a product manual last month, has been spotted in Australia
Sony’s first PlayStation 5 hardware revision has quietly gone on sale.
The new version of the PlayStation 5 hardware, which was first mentioned via a Japanese product manual last month, has been spotted for sale in Australia this week, as reported by Press-Start.
The model in question is a Disc Edition console, unlike the Digital hardware detailed in last month’s product manual, and features an updated model number.
While PS5 launch hardware uses a CFI-1XXX model numbering scheme, the product listed in Sony documentation and on the Australian model spotted this week use the new CFI-11XX scheme.
Like the hardware revision detailed last month, the updated PS5 has been confirmed to feature a new screw to attach the console to its stand, which can now be adjusted by hand instead of requiring a screwdriver.
The new hardware is also said to weigh less than the launch PlayStation 5 console at 3.6kg, or 300g less than the original hardware. It’s not clear if any other changes have been made to the internal hardware.
Sony first indicated earlier this year that it was looking to make small changes to the PlayStation 5 hardware as a potential solution to help it cope with the global shortage of hardware components.
Asked about the shortage of semiconductors during an investor call in April, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki said suggested Sony had means with which it could manage. “For example, we could find maybe a secondary resource, or by changing the design we could cope,” the exec said.
“In [the Electronics Products & Solutions business] we took a flexibility manoeuvre and in FY2021 we liked to flexibility adapt to the situation.”
Plans for updated PS5 hardware were then spotted in May, when it emerged that Sony had registered a new wireless communication module it was seemingly applying to the console.
Although its not clear if the wireless module is included in the new PS5 models currently being sold in Australia, the one described in a Sony document replaces the J20H100 module used in launch PS5 hardware.
There doesn’t appear to be a great deal of difference between the two, except when it comes to antenna gain.
When connecting to a router via 2.4GHz the new module will have a peak antenna gain of 4.0/3.5dBi compared to 6.0/6.0dBi in the launch model. If connecting via 5GHz the new module’s peak antenna gain will be 6.0/4.5dBi, as opposed to 5.0/3.5dBi. It’s not clear if this will make much of a difference to connection speeds.
further reading
PS5 redesign will enter production in 2022, new report claims
Sony is reportedly planning to start production on a further PS5 hardware redesign featuring a “new semi-customised” 6nm CPU from AMD in 2022.
The company claimed in May that the standard PS5 model would break even beginning in June 2021. “And from then on, we project that it will gradually become increasingly profitable,” PlayStation boss Jim Ryan said during an investor relations event.
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