There have been reports that Sony is working on PlayStation 4.5, kind of a mid-cycle console refresh with improved hardware specifications. This new SKU will reportedly play games in 4K and have better specifications (possibly better CPU and GPU). If these reports are true, it will signal the end of console generations something which we have discussed in detail in a previous article.
However a new source has revealed more information about PS4.5 or whatever it’s going to be called. Twitter user Zhugex, who has posted in-depth sales figures of software and consoles in the past has revealed some interesting new information about PS4.5. He claims that two big third party publishers are already aware about this new hardware and they are all set to receive developer kits. Furthermore, the console’s PCB has been redesigned to to reduce its size by 1/4th. This has allowed Sony to shrink the PS4’s size by a bit. The console will still be using the AMD APU along with 8GB memory but Zhugex speculates that the APU component may be upgraded ones resulting into faster clock speed thereby improving performance.
In order to know more, we got in touch with Zhugex and it was revealed to us that he got this information from someone who is close to manufacturing at Sony. However, the biggest question right now is whether the new SKU will allow games to be played in 4K? Zhugex told us that his source did not told him anything about 4K gaming and that native 4K support for gaming may not be a thing. However he added that since he did’t hear it from his source, it does not mean it’s not going to happen.
He also revealed that performance will be improved but it may only be limited for the system itself and PlayStation VR. Developers may utilize this power but not all of it may be available. Furthermore, the situation of upgraded PS4 specs may be similar to the case when Sony improved the clock speed of PlayStation 2 slim several years ago. However whether this will impact software performance on the PS4 is something that remains to be seen.
As usual, this information must be taken with a grain of salt. We haven’t reported any rumors from Zughex in the past but we have reported in-depth sales figures for consoles and software from his website. If PS4.5 is indeed launching in the next one year or so as the source claims than we will be hearing more very soon from Sony.
We will keep you updated as this builds.
To clarify point 5. I've heard that devs will get access to this extra power in some cases, but not other cases. So not 100% access. Depends
— ZhugeEX (@ZhugeEX) March 24, 2016
I don't normally do rumours. But seeing as I knew about PS4.5 before the Kotaku write up, I will share what I heard- pic.twitter.com/o16ohf44pR
— ZhugeEX (@ZhugeEX) March 24, 2016