The PlayStation 5 is barely able to meet its growing demand, but that is not stopping Sony from releasing a new variant soon, says a new report from The Leak. The report says that PS5 Slim will launch sometime in 2023, but this time, Sony may not actually call it “slim”.
Sources familiar with the matter have said that despite not having “slim” in its name, its main purpose will be to reduce the size of the PS5. It will be using a “die-shrink” treatment to reduce its size.
As a result, it will be lighter than the original version, will use less power, and will also have better thermals. It will have all the recent changes Sony has introduced to the regular PS5, but those were not enough to shrink the unit’s outer casing. It will also ditch the awkward stand that is used to balance the PS5 when it’s lying on its side.
The main reason to reduce its size and weight is to bring down shipping and production costs. The new model is expected to phase out the original PS5 eventually. The Leak says that Sony is aiming to produce the ‘PS5 Slim’ in Q2 2023, so it will likely release to the public around Q3, 2023, so there is still quite some time.
A lot of people are expecting a mid-season redesign of current generation consoles with a power increase similar to the PS4 Pro or the Xbox One X, but that is not going to be the case here. The PS5 Slim will focus on ergonomics and more efficient hardware rather than improved gaming performance.
The timing also makes sense since the original PS4 launched in 2013 and the PS4 Pro arrived three years later in 2016. Likewise, the PS5 launched in 2020 and it’s about time we see a new model.
