It might not look like it, but the most recent generation of consoles is already half through its lifespan. The PlayStation 5, Sony's latest console, first arrived three years ago in 2020. A good chunk of that time was marked by limited availability due to the chip shortage, but nonetheless, the console has been out for a long time, and players have started wondering whether Sony was planning to release new models at all. Now, that has finally happened. A slimmer version of the PlayStation 5 is finally here.

Sony has announced a slimmer PlayStation 5 console. The design of the console remains pretty similar, with the added difference that the plates on each side of the console are now two pieces each instead of one big swappable plate. The top plate is glossy, while the bottom plate is matte, and there's a black line separating both panels — this design is slightly reminiscent of the original model of the PlayStation 4, which coincidentally is turning 10 years old this year, so maybe this is sort of a tribute to that console. Other than that, the new model has basically the same design as the current PS5, except it's now slimmer and lighter. The console has been reduced 30% in volume and 18%/24% in weight.

There are a couple of other big changes to this new console. For starters, the console is still available in both digital versions and disc versions, but this time, regardless of which one you get, you're actually getting the same hardware, because the disc drive is a removable add-on instead of being physically mounted. You can remove the disc drive from the disc version of the PS5, and likewise, you can hook one up to the digital version as well. The optical disc drive can be bought as a separate add-on, so if you buy the digital version and decide eventually that you want to play physical games on your console, you can just buy the drive and hook it up. The other big change comes in its storage — whereas the current PS5 model is 825GB, the new console brings that up to 1TB. It's a modest increase, but one that will certainly be welcome, and you still have the option to add extra storage through m.2 NVMe SSDs.

The new PS5 with the physical disc drive will be available for $499, while the digital version costs $449. There's no price decrease, and it looks like the digital version is actually getting a $50 bump. The new model will become available in November.

Source: Sony