At its PlayStation Meeting event today, Sony finally announced that a refresh of the PlayStation 4 was on its way.
What many have been dubbing the “PS4 Slim,” the device is meant as a replacement for the nearly three year old console. It’s not necessarily an upgrade though, since a few features of the original gangster PS4 have been removed (like the optical audio port, and the ability to upgrade the HDD). Everything we heard during the leaks was true, including that of an updated Dual Shock 4 with an integrated light bar at the top.
- Model CUH-2016A
- 500GB HDD, with no visible way to upgrade
- Removal of the digital audio output
- HDMI, Camera, Ethernet, Power and dual USB ports remain
- New physical Power & Eject buttons, as opposed to the current PS4’s capacitive ones
- Matte surface, instead of glossy/matte combination
- New DualShock 4 controller with a light bar on top as well as front
The new console will also be 28% more energy efficient, thanks to better chipsets and a 30% more compact design. It will allow for HDR gaming, as will all existing PS4 consoles through an upcoming update. All of these changes add up to a more profitable PS4, as manufacturing changes aren’t done just for kicks. We reckon that this, like all other Playstation product revisions in the past, will let Sony squeeze out a few more bucks from each console sold.
For what it’s worth, the biggest change isn’t the shape but the drop in price to $299. That’s a great adjustment and tempting for those who want to get in on the current generation of games this year.
The updated, slimmer, lighter PlayStation 4 launches on Sept 15. Hey, that’s next week!
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