Home IFTTT Pocket-lint PS5 specs, release date, controller and more: Sony PlayStation 5 explained

PS5 specs, release date, controller and more: Sony PlayStation 5 explained

February 12, 2020

The PlayStation 5 will be coming at the end of 2020 and we couldn't be more excited.

Along with the Xbox Series X, it will represent the next-step in the evolution of gaming and we've heard plenty about it already.

That's why we've collated everything revealed about the PS5 so far: rumours, confirmed specs, leaked images and more.

Read on for information on the next step in PlayStation's illustrious history.

PS5 confirmation and logo

Sony Interactive Entertainment first confirmed that it was working on a "next-gen console" at the end of 2018, but it wasn't until October 2019 that it was indeed to be called the PlayStation 5. Company president and CEO, Jim Ryan said as much in a blog posting posting at the time.

Since then, we've seen the actual logo for the PS5. It was officially revealed during the Sony press conference at CES in January 2020. It's not particularly groundbreaking, considering it looks exactly like the PS4 equivalent, but it does offer one clue: SIE clearly sees the new console as an extension of its existing family of devices rather than a full replacement.

Another instance of the logo can be seen on an official webpage launched as part of the Sony website. You can also sign up there for more information on the PS5 as it is released.

PS5 release date

Although we don't know an exact date, SIE confirmed that the PS5 will be released in markets around the world from "holiday 2020".

However, one thing that might yet throw a spanner in the works is the coronavirus outbreak that started in China. Considering much of the PS5 hardware is being manufactured in the country, production could be affected by factories and supply lines being shut down due to employee health concerns.

Financial services company even released an investors note that suggested the holiday release date might slip - not just for the PS5 but Xbox Series X too: "The video game sector is currently manufacturing, or beginning to, a once-in-several-years' product generation change for the 2020 holiday season," it said (as reported by Business Insider). "If shutdowns exceed a month or so, game schedules will be delayed. New consoles may likewise suffer supply issues from a prolonged disruption, ahead of their fall 2020 planned launches."

PS5 design and dev kit

Although we don't yet know what the consumer version of the PlayStation 5 might look like, an SIE filed patent and subsequently leaked images show what the current PS5 dev kit looks like.

Whether the final consumer model looks anything like these is up for debate, however. One filed patent that could be indicative of a consumer version is the one of the, proposed, DualShock 5.

PS5 controller (DualShock 5)

Posted in December 2019, the controller patent shows a gamepad  that looks similar to the existing DualShock 4, but with no PS button on the front and extra buttons on the rear.

PS5 specs

We're yet to get sniff of actual, confirmed specifications but there have been some juicy suggestions and details over the last few months.

For example, in an interview with Wired in the spring of 2019, PlayStation lead system architect Mark Cerny revealed some key features.

The new console will have an eight-core CPU based on AMD's 7nm process and be similar to the Zen 2 Ryzen PC processors - as found in recent laptops.

GPU and ray-tracing

Graphics hardware was also revealed, with the GPU to be based on AMD's Radeon Navi microarchitecture. It will support ray-tracing, which will be hardware rather than software led.

Subsequent reports, not least an CNET interview with PlayStation boss Jim Ryan, revealed that the PS5 will be capable of 4K 120Hz gaming - with resolutions even capable of reaching 8K sometime in the future.

Storage and SSD

While, in terms of storage, Mark Cerny claimed that internal space will be (at least partly) provided by a solid state drive rather than the traditional HDD tech used in PS3 and PS4. This means loading games and pulling assets in-game will be much faster.

Anyone who has swapped the HDD in the PS4 with an SSD equivalent will already know about some of the speed benefits, but the PlayStation 5 will combine notably faster data transfer speeds with on-board processing to make this even quicker still.

To demonstrate, Cerny used a modified version of Marvel's Spider-Man. On the PS4, the fast travel loading cut screen logs in at around 15 seconds before Spidey appears at his new destination. On a PS5 devkit (hidden inside a nondescript PC-style tower) it took 0.8 seconds.

You can even see the demo for yourself, as it was video recorded by the Wall Street Journal's Takashi Mochizuki and posted on Twitter.

There has been no talk about storage size as yet, although we hope we'll get at least 2TB, considering how even PS4 Pro enhanced games can take up more than 100GB apiece (just look at Read Dead Redemption 2, for example, which weighs in at a minimum of 99GB). Our only worry is that a 2TB SSD is currently around the £200 mark on its own and we can't see Sony opting for a £600 launch price for the new machine, no matter how next-gen it is.

It is more likely, therefore, that an SSD will be part of an overall hybrid storage solution. We think an extra, conventional HDD will also be used to increase the capacity.

Audio hardware will be improved, Cerny said, through the AMD chipset. It includes a custom unit for 3D sound that he promises will provide significant audio improvements over current and previous gen machines.

4K Blu-ray

We also know, thanks to a follow-up interview published by Wired in October 2019, that the PS5 will continue PlayStation's tradition of coming with a disc drive - regardless of the rise in popularity of digital downloads. What's more, while Sony ignored 4K Blu-ray for PS4 Pro it is reversing that decision for PlayStation 5.

PS5 backward compatibility and other features

One of the big confirmed features is complete backward compatibility with PS4 games.

With Xbox trumping its rival with a very decent list of backward compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox games on Xbox One, this is an area PlayStation clearly wants to catch up on.

For PS4, Sony opted for a cloud based service, PS Now, in order to offer PS3 games to play instead. But, that was never a solution for those who had discs on their shelves and no longer a console to play them on. Cerny's revelation that backward compatibility with at least PS4 titles is most welcome, therefore.

That's not to say Sony will turn its back on PS Now, the cloud gaming service is in the process of being improved and repackaged (and made cheaper). As Cerny said during his first Wired interview: "We are cloud-gaming pioneers, and our vision should become clear as we head toward launch."

A deal with Microsoft to switch Sony gaming services to its Azure cloud servers could even see latency and other tech features of PS Now improve greatly in the coming year. Certainly, Sony does not want Google Stadia nor Microsoft's own Project xCloud to snatch the cloud gaming market without a fight.

The gaming giant's CEO believes that PS Now can become a bigger deal in the face of such rivalry: "We've actually achieved a lot, and probably a lot more than people realise," Ryan told CNET. "Our intent is to build on those learnings and really look to try to take PlayStation Now to the next level later this year and then in the years to come."

Also backward compatible with PS5, as we've already said above, will be existing PlayStation VR headsets.

PS5 price

It's far too early to know how much the PS5 will be on release.

We doubt it'd be anything shy of £450 though - the price of the Xbox One X on its release in late 2017.

We'll update this feature with new rumours and/or confirmed details as and when they occur.

For now, why not check out our round-up of the best PS4 games every gamer should own.



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