The trial that confronts Microsoft with the FTC and with Sony continues its course, and thanks to the documentation that has been presented in it, we have been able to discover that PS5 Slim is not only real, but that it will also arrive before the end of this year. and that its price will be $399.99a figure that, when exchanged in euros and after applying taxes, could become €449.99.
This information was summarized in one of those documentswhere one could literally read:
“PlayStation also sells a cheaper digital edition that is priced at $399.99, and is expected to release a PlayStation 5 Slim later this year. at the same reduced price«.
The information comes from Microsoft, so it is quite reliable, although since it is not confirmed by Sony, it is clear that some changes could end up taking place either in the price or in the release date. In any case, none of these changes should be especially large, and everything that we have just said fits perfectly with the information that we had seen previously.
What can we expect from PS5 Slim for that price?
If Sony launches PS5 Slim with a price of 449.99 euros we would have a discount of 100 euros Compared to the current price of the version with an optical drive. However, if we compare with the launch price of said console, the discount would only be 50 euros. In the end it is a “win-win” for Sony, which after its decision to raise the price of PS5 has more room to play with it, and to maximize the profit margin with the Slim model.
About PS5 Slim we published a special about a year ago where we told you everything we expect from said console, and that information is still up to date, that is, it is totally valid. However, there are some details that are worth reviewing and explaining a little further, and that is precisely what I am going to do in this article.
Just as powerful, more efficient
The PS5 Slim will be just as powerful as the standard console, which means we shouldn’t expect any performance improvement or reduction. In general terms, the console will be at the same level as the standard PS5, but this model will be more efficient both thermally and in terms of consumption, that is, it will generate less heat and need less power to operate.
This reduction in consumption and efficiency will be possible thanks to the leap of the APU (CPU and GPU) to the TSMC 5nm nodewhich is the same that AMD uses in its Zen 4 processors and its Radeon RX 7000. However, at the architectural level, PS5 Slim will continue to use a Zen 2 CPU and will have the same Radeon GPU with 2,304 shaders as the original console.
Same amount of unified memory, more storage?
There will be no improvements at the architecture level, this is something we can take for granted, and we will not see any changes in the unified memory configuration either, which will remain at 16 GB of GDDR6. Where we could see changes is in the storage unit, not at the performance level, but in the total capacity of it.
The SSD unit that comes with PS5 is 825 GB, but of these about 660 GB remain free, so in the end the user has a fairly limited amount of space to keep their favorite games installed. Sony could take advantage of the launch of PS5 Slim to include an SSD drive with a total capacity of 1TB.
Whatever happens, Sony wins with the price of PS5 Slim
And for a very simple reason. The Japanese company has been improving and simplifying the internal construction of its console, and this has allowed it to reduce manufacturing costs. By making the production process of PS5 cheaper, and with the price increase of this, Sony maximized revenue per unit sold in a way that would have been unthinkable in previous generations.
This has another advantage, and that is that now Sony has more room for maneuver with the price of PS5 Slim, a console that could cost 449.99 euros, and that with that price it would be tremendously profitable for the Japanese company. Keep in mind that this version will be cheaper to produce than the original PS5, and thanks to the jump to the 5nm node it won’t need as powerful a cooling system.
It remains to be seen, of course, what the rumors that said that PS5 Slim will use a removable optical drive remain. There is still nothing definitive in this sense, and the truth is that I have quite a few doubts about it, but it makes sense because it would allow Sony unify its two current versions into one.
Cover image: Concept Creator.
