Sony is rolling out its redesigned PS5 consoles in stores right now, but will it alleviate the console shortage?
The updated hardware has been spotted on shelves in Australian retailers (via Press Start) and is sporting the changes previously rumoured.
The PS5 has been in short supply since its launch, with Microsoft’s Xbox Series X facing the same issue.
The global semicondutor shortage is the culprit, and is affecting production across a slew of industries.
Sony has stated that it’s looking to redesign the PS5 with a new version of the AMD Zen 2 processor the launch model is currently touting.
The revised chip will be manufactured using a 6nm process rather than the 7nm process, but that’s not slated to happen until next year.
This newer model has still had its insides rejigged however, and is sporting model number CFI-1102A.
Interestingly, the previous leak was for model number CFI-1100B and was the Digital Edition.
The consoles spotted in Australia are the Standard Edition, suggesting the first wave of hardware revisions have been made across both models.
The PS5 redesign includes the new screw, so that owners can adjust it by hand when attaching it to the stand, without having to rummage about for their toolbox.
We’re also expecting it to be 300g lighter than its launch counterpart, as per the changes noted in the PS5 Digital Edition manual – which is what tipped everyone off to begin with.
That’s not confirmed just yet, as the manual for the new disc drive version has yet to appear online, and Press Start hasn’t managed to whip out the scales for a weigh in.
A new wireless comms component is expected to be the reason for the loss of the 300g, so if the PS5 Standard edition rolling out now is lighter, that’ll be why.
As detailed by VGC, if the PS5 is connected to a router via 2.4GHZ, the peak antenna gain will be 4.0/3.5dBi on the new model, compared to the launch model’s 6.0/6.0dBi.
If connecting via 5GHZ, peak antenna gain on the new model will be 6.0/4.5dBi compared to the launch model’s 5.0/3.5dBi.
We don’t know how this will impact connection speeds, but now the new PS5 is out in the wild, it won’t be long before people get their hands on it and are able to pit the two variants against one another.
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