If rumors are to be believed, the PS5 Slim is about to be launched. What it looks like is uncertain, but there are indications of a near date.
For a few weeks now, there have been increasing indications that Sony could soon be launching a new version of the PlayStation 5. Sporadic discount campaigns, which have been increasing since Sony announced 40 million copies sold and stable delivery quantities, speak for this again and again.
Microsoft Expecting Sony to Launch PS5 Slim 2023
The court documents in the dispute over Microsoft’s takeover of Activision/Blizzard also recently revealed that Sony’s competitor is still expecting a slim model in 2023. In order for this to be widely available for the Christmas business, the console would have to be presented soon. However, it is not even certain that the new PS5 will be called “Slim” like in the last three generations, it may just be a new version without a suffix.
A picture from a Chinese forum and an independent video that the Australian account BwE_Dev published on X, formerly Twitter, now speak for this. According to their own statements, there is a free software developer for Sony consoles behind it, who also offers repairs and modifications to the devices. In his nine-second video, he shows an empty housing in the design of a PlayStation 5, whose model number he gives as “CFI-2016”. The current version of the disc edition is “CFI-1216A”, the digital edition without a drive is called “CFI-1216B”.
CFI-2016 PS5 Case pic.twitter.com/udFyQbVpz8
— BetterWayElectronics.com.au (@BwE_Dev) August 11, 2023
Separation Between Models of PlayStation Can End
Even without a new product name, Sony regularly changes the inner workings of its consoles if production costs can be saved. After the market launch of the PS5 in 2020, this was also the case in the two following years, but no new model was released in 2023. The illustrations by BwE_Dev show a much more compact case in which the side shells are divided into two. This could allow Sony to only offer the optical drive as an option and for retrofitting, thus eliminating the separation between A and B models.
A price reduction for the market launch of a more compact console is also typical for Sony. According to unconfirmed information, the new PS5 – then probably without a drive – will cost about $439, what the optional drive will cost is not yet known. The company has not yet commented on any of this.