Likely to launch next year

A revised PS5 hardware model with a detachable disc drive is now in developers’ hands, according to original rumourmonger Tom Henderson. The reliable Insider Gaming scribe first broke news of the revamped console earlier in the year, but now claims to have heard from two separate sources that test kits are out in the wild. According to the reporter, it “works flawlessly”.

While the overarching concept of a detachable disc drive may seem strange at first, it will dramatically streamline Sony’s production process. Currently, the platform holder manufactures the disc-based PS5 and its Digital Edition counterpart as separate products, but its proposal here will mean that it only needs to make a single unit. It can then bundle some consoles with the Blu-ray accessory.

It will also give consumers more flexibility. While some may choose to pick up the console without a disc drive initially, they’ll be able to “upgrade” to the disc version at a later date by simply purchasing the physical media tray separately. According to the initial reports, the disc drive will snap snugly to the hardware’s chassis, so it’ll look like it’s a part of the unit if you do decide to add it on.

While the PS5’s stock situation has improved a lot of late, the Japanese giant has set aggressive targets for 2023, as it aims to make up for a shortfall of units sold in the aftermath of the pandemic. Expect this new revision to launch next year, then, as the manufacturer looks to effectively re-launch its new-gen console – this time with ample stock available for everyone.

A true PlayStation veteran, Sammy's covered the world of PS gaming for years, with an enormous Trophy count to prove it. He also likes tennis games way more than you.

This sounds like a pretty ingenious revision, to be honest. Assuming it works as described, it'll streamline manufacturing, potentially lower costs, and give consumers more flexibility.

Begs the question why they didn’t do this from the get go though, doesn’t it?

If this new model has a new design i'll be selling my current one for certain

If they can reduce the length by 100mm I’ll buy one straight away as it will finally fit under my TV.

@kyleforrester87 Potentially, yes. But we're a few years on from then, and they have even more data about how many are using the disc drive, the percentage of digital purchases, and have obviously streamlined the manufacturing process, which is just something that happens over time.

But yeah, I do take your point.

Curious to see what it looks like. If it's a different design wonder what happen to all the face plates for sale

It would be nice if the detachable disc tray is also compatible with launch digital PS5s. I play 90% of my games digitally nowadays but there's still some one or two that I wouldn't mind picking up physically as a collectors edition, or playing old PS4 games I have without pulling out the old hardware.

@RadioHedgeFund I'm amazed people actually base their hardware purchase decisions on such things, rather than work around them, but there you go.

If it looks a lot better, I’d sell my original model and pick this one up. Great performance, but the design of the PS5 hasn’t grown on me.

@get2sammyb I guess the R&D was going on for many years before launch too. Still, hoping it looks like this.

@NotTelevision I wouldn't expect a massive change to the design. But I suspect it will be smaller, as they'll want to get the footprint down to help with storage, shipping, etc.

I quite like the idea, the disc drive tends to be the part most at risk of breaking/playing up from my experience, being able to buy just that sounds great on paper.

Great idea, but won't be selling my unit.. no purpose really, assuming this is just a slim revision. Would have loved to buy this initially though.

Might have been how it should have been. But.... hindsight is 20/20

" the disc drive will snap snugly to the hardware’s chassis, so it’ll look like it’s a part of the unit if you do decide to add it on."

Wow that's a big upgrade from the original disc model, visually

I happen to really like the idea, I wish they had this for PS3, I wouldn't have a graveyard of like 5 ps3s with dead disc drives.

Although we all know they're doing this with the idea of weening everyone off physical media over the long term. Wonder if the drive can be used at all on existing digital models and it's just USB or of it's a proprietary connection? I'm betting proprietary though.

@kyleforrester87 Lack of foresight, company coordination, or overall functioning communication? Or attaching an external mount to the original chassis would cause the package size to exceed the dimensions of a pallet

Sounds good, especially if seamless if you upgrade.

One reason I am not 100% PC is because I can rent, sell, trade and buy used 3rd party games on consoles. I always want the drive.

Can someone explain why it would not work? The “works flawlessly” part seems odd. It’s like it was expected to not be good.

Microsoft should make an attachment for the series s. a lot of people dont like the fact it doesn't have a disc drive

Let’s be honest, This is just a way of charging more. People need to see through the BS.

I'll wait to trade mine in for the Pro edition.

@get2sammyb Do we know what physical movie and/or music media the drive will play? DVD and blu-ray I think would be a given but what about ultra 4k movies and CDs?

I do not understand this? If Sony are making a detachable disc drive for people who have the PS5 with no disc drive, why not just make one PS5 that is disc only?

@NEStalgia How are they "weening everyone off physical media over the long term" if there making this disc drive? You just don't make it right.

@Snake_V5 I think the premise here is that because the console will have no disc drive, is that more people will end up not buying a drive and thus will be buying digital.

I’m 100% sure that people will get the console and not get the drive.

Will it be 1tb or not?

Im glad I have one that just has the disc drive mended to it. I’d rather that to be honest.

@Snake_V5 yep, @FatalBubbles got it exactly right. It's a cheaper option (presumably) and a lot of people will go for that cheaper option, especially knowing they can change their mind later. It'll just normalize digital further as the default option. Like with XSS.

@FatalBubbles but they are getting the disc drive with this new PS5, it's just detachable.

@Snake_V5 They are not? It’s sold separately

@FatalBubbles I still don't get it? So Sony are making a new PS5 model that allows a disc drive to be connected to it and detached if you want to? I'd imagine that would be more expensive that way since they now have to make a seperate drive as well as the new PS5 model. Why not just make a new PS5 model that simply has a disc drive built in?

@Snake_V5 Making one console streamlines production, which will lower manufacturing costs.

They will also mass produce the drive which will be cheap.

People will buy the console without getting the disc drive. Some of these people who previously would have bought physical games will no longer do that.

Sony saves money in the manufacturing process and also will make more money on digital sales compared to physical sales.

@FatalBubbles No one likes all digital though, physical will always be superior to digital.

Waiting for the PS5 Pro myself. Dreaming up some absurd specs I’m sure they’ll come nowhere near matching.

@Snake_V5 The majority of game sales are digital now. I’m not sure what else to tell you.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2022/07/nearly-80percent-of-all-ps5-ps4-games-are-bought-digitally

Kind of like what Apple did with the MacBook Pro - remove the disc drive but keep the price the same, then charge people who want a disc drive more money by selling it as an extra.

Sounds like a stealth way to move as much people as possible to digital. We know people can be lazy and once they get that unit home they probably won't bother buying the disc attachment and will just use as is.

If Sony sells the detachable disc drive separately and it works with my launch day PS5, I'd buy one if it's $100 or less. That would be less wear and tear on my built-in disc drive and easier to replace.

@Snake_V5 i do 100% digital since PS4 and Xbox One. I have no use for a plastic disc with 200MB of data on it, basically the license that i own the game but then have to download it anyway. I don’t resell my games and trade games with friends so i lose no benefit there. For those that like physical i am glad it’s still around, but i own the PS5 Digital edition and while i hate the design, i did buy black plates for it, so maybe I’ll wait for the PS5 Pro.

@CVCubbington yeah i too will just wait for Pro models of PS5 and Xbox. Hopefully those can deliver 4K 60, and better ray tracing. I have cutting edge TV’s and Sound system, so i am always looking for more power to display the gear at its fullest. I buy digital only so i don’t care if sony puts a disc drive or not on the pro. My Series X disc drive hasn’t even been used, and my PS5 is the digital version.

@Green-Bandit Pretty much the same as far as setup, though I do still collect physical. I love having 4K discs and blu rays so I’ll always opt for the drive version. Hopefully whatever they come up with is just absurdly powerful.

@Balosi actually that is a very good point, instead of having to replace the whole console and pay another 500, all you have to get is the drive like pc parts, i thought at first this is a dumb idea but it seems to be pretty decent ?

@huyi but that moment when you realize most of us have disc consoles and rarely use it , it kinda is dumb though lol , the ps5 rarely uses it since disc barely have anything on em

its actually a massive change because the disc drives have a logic board that is married to the exact mother board of that console. by having a disc drive that basically works on any ps5 they have had to fundamentally change the way disc drives in consoles have been designed in their consoles since the ps3 days

I can understand that people will buy a digital ps5 to save space in terms of size (not much in it at the moment comparing my physical ps5 to my mates digital) and in terms of storage but whilst saving space by not having discs taking up space you run out of ssd room facilitating the need to buy a larger internal ssd and they are still pretty pricey. And then factor in the price of the games on the store especially if you cant wait for sales because you have to get the new games day one..everybody hates the £70 price point but are quite happy to let sony corner you into a no win situation..oh my bad,sorry there is now a new ps5 that you can go out and purchase and an expensive and you can bet those fingers sony havnt squeezed up your bumhole that it will be expensive bluray drive to attach to your ps5 once the £1 coin drops (sony dont deal in pennies) and you realize you were taken for a ride..glad i bought the og monster ps5...

@nomither6 i'll go with this but when you can purchase a disc version of the latest game for at least £15 cheaper than the digital store i would argue that a fair few people will opt for the disc version..

@DTfeartheBEARD the drive is only used to launch the game..its not used after those first 10 secs or so..i cant see it ever wearing out if my ps4 one is still working fine after years of almost constant use..bomb proof those suckers are..

@CVCubbington i am glad physical is still around for the people that want it, it shouldn’t be a one or the other. But I’m sure if digital hits 80-90% of the market, stores won’t keep physical games around for the niche audiences. Yeah i agree, i hope it’s crazy powerful, but more than likely just a increase to produce better frame rates and some added ray tracing, there was a rumor going around a year ago that it would cost $600-$700 a have dual GPU’s but i don’t see that happening. That would be powerful as heck tho. I only use my PS5 for the exclusives, so i will want a super power Xbox to play my 3rd party games on as well. As for switch pro or switch 2, that is another system i own for the exclusives and i just don’t see Nintendo chasing to much power. Be nice to have 1440P at 60 docked and 1080P handheld.

@Northern_munkey I'd see the insert/eject motor wearing out before anything else. My PS4 Pro disc drive works just fine after 6 plus years. But with over 200 PS4/PS5 discs, it would be more convenient to buy a spare disc drive instead of another PS5...

@DTfeartheBEARD assuming you can connect it to the original ps5's..is it a usb connection because i'm assuming its going to be some kind of serial port other than usb/usb-c..

@Northern_munkey oh yeah , i forget about those discount cheap physical sales . personally, i still rely on digital discounts , so this whole thing still sounds like a niche . wish sony would focus their efforts elsewhere , seriously. my pc doesnt even have a disc drive , do any gaming pcs do anymore??

@nomither6 my gaming rig is 10 years old so it really,really is obsolete now..it has a dvd drive but its basically a massive juke box now and the wife uses it as her art work station because its still a power house for things like that..i have no use or desire to jump back on the bottomless money pit that is pc gaming but kudos to those that can afford it and enjoy it ?

I got my digital ps5 at launch, I don’t think I can go back to physical media ? like a few others in the comment section, I won’t buy this.. if it comes in the Pro edition, that’s cool.

I just want 4k/60 on a standard TV/monitor

@get2sammyb lower cost to them but I, being a cynic, expect the PS5 + Separate disk drive to cost more than the current Disk based PS5.

If there’s some other tweaks and improvements I hope they think ahead and allow those like me with a PS5 the option to upgrade to the newer model for a trade-in. If it’s just this and a bit smaller than not to worry I guess.

@kyleforrester87 Covid 19 and lessons learnt.

@NEStalgia wow 5 ps3s. What did you do to them for them to break. I still have my original fat ps3 80 gb in perfect working order

Sounds like a clever feature and totally makes sense for a revised core model. Happy enough with my current version though, so I’ll be hanging on for the inevitable Pro version, as I’m sure most others on here will be.

@kyleforrester87 maybe it is one way to fix the production based on bad delivery of materials. Before it was not an issue and they did not care. But still it is much better like that.

I'll just wait for the pro version with disc drive. I only buy physical since I really 100% own the game. Try downloading PS3 games like ff13 as example. You can't because half of the games are not there anymore even the ones you bought, i can't redownload half my PS3 collection. You never really own digital games.

@rjejr I suspect it'll be DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray. CDs haven't been supported since the PS3?

@Northern_munkey In the original 'reveal' about this, I believe it said it was going to be a USB port at the back of the new PS5, rather than a custom serial interface. In theory, no reason you couldn't connect it to a USB port on the disc-less original.

Still can't stand the current PS5 leviathan 'design', so a slimmer, shorter one that doesn't get in the way of the TV would be very welcome indeed! Saw a PS5 dwarfing a PS4 Pro in a CEX window at the weekend and all I could think of the PS5 was "you fat b*st*rd!"

But what about the price? Will it be cheaper than the current disk version PS5? I'll hold off on buying a PS5 until the price is revealed, then I will buy whichever one is cheapest.

I'm content with my launch model PS5, will keep waiting for the inevitable PS5 Pro.

I'd be highly shocked if the disk drive didn't connect via USB - it's an incredibly flexible set of standards (for instance keyboards and mice still use the PS/2 protocol over USB, as it's part of the spec for HID).

That said there's nothing to say that the firmware will allow it to talk to anything but a Sony device, and I'd expect all traffic between the console and the disk drive to be encrypted so it's not a vector for piracy. I'd be shocked if you could plug it into your laptop to read 4k Blu-ray discs, for instance.

Well Sony always release revisions of their consoles, so this makes sense.

Great for right to repair too, because if it's your disc drive that is faulty, you're not paying to replace the entire console.

@NotTelevision Ditto. I have my PS5 out of sight, behind my TV.

@sanderson72 that clears that up then ?

These new models should come with an extra port for the drive cause some people like me might be using all 4 ports already.

For me it's two ports at front for my PS4 + PS5 charging cable, back is my headset and external drive

I see comments about this being a move that will further push people toward the digital future, but I initially see it as the opposite. I’m a hybrid gamer who owns a mix of physical and digital games; I buy whichever copy is cheaper and having a disc drive has paid for itself by the money saved with physical (augmented by being able to flip a used game and recoup even more money from it). You can make up $100 pretty quickly with a few dollars saved per game.

With this modular ‘upgrade’ possible, people will no longer be locked into the digital ecosystem when they buy a console and then later regret not having a drive. I understand many people will be too lazy to ever make the move to add the drive, but I know at least one friend who bought a digital only PS5 and wishes he had a drive now so we could swap games.

@get2sammyb Yeah. But question is if it also lowers the price for the consumers...

physical/digital is down to consumers.

its our fault we pay 70 for games, people preorder digital games like they gonna sell out. knowing they going to release in a state.

digitalonly is telling companies you are happy to pay more.... to own nothing. fools and money easily parted is the saying no?

GoWR 70 digital. 63 physical, sold for 52.

to name one example recently.

Hopefully Sony got rid of the annoying coil noise this time around.

Itll look the same 100% with just an extra port for the disc drive be realistic

@stvevan Sometimes you can pre-order a disc for less than the Store price and it gets delivered a day earlier than the release date.

@Kyevo8814 Hope not - I want it to be about 25% less massive! You're right about the extra port on the back though, but I am wondering where the blanking plate will be? Perhaps the disc drive will be centrally mounted?

@sanderson72 i can only see a slim or pro being different shape crnt see them changing shape for a normal ps5? And i think it will just click in the back on a extra port surely but just thought about hdmi and power cable being there??? Is a weird situation for them to do

I will never buy new games digitally, the prices are ridiculously high digitally. The latest example, NFS unbound SEK 849 in Sweden (€84.99) digitally. SEK 579 (€57.99) physical copy. That's how it is with all new games, not even on sale at the PS-Store, it's cheaper than physical copies.

So this is a good thing, that more people get the chance to buy physical games. That people accept the monopoly because they can't bear to get up from the sofa is a disaster in my opinion.

@TechaNinja just so you know, you can charge your controllers with a standard phone charger (although some chargers only seem to work if you plug them in whole the controller is off)

@sanderson72 Thanks, I would suspect the same, but since this “leaker” knows so much I thought Sammy might know at least what the rumor is. It wouldn’t surprise me if technically it could play those discs but Sony doesn’t want to pay any licensing fees so it’s just not capable of being used as a media player, only PS4/5 games, and maybe PS6 if it isn’t all digital. (I probably should have just asked if it’s for games or media also.) PS6 might just be the PS4 Pro Squared, or maybe cubed, so it’s possible Sony is thinking ahead w/ these so they can sell only a digital PS6. By the time this rumored version sells it may only be 3 more years until the PS6.??‍♂️

Really no reason for the PS6 not to be digital only if this rumor pans out and the built in disc model is discontinued.

Would be cool if down the road they release, for collectors, disc drives for other console generations, like the PS3. One machine for all the Playstation history. I know it conflicts with the more expensive ps plus but at least the ps3 games won't need to be streaming. I know it´s only a dream, but...

@Kyevo8814 I think this redesign IS the 'slim' (and hopefully, 'short') They won't change the standard PS5 shape, but the 'slim' will be a different chassis and so the ports can easily be moved around

@rjejr Yes, it always seemed a bit odd that the PS4 couldn't read CDs - especially if backwards compatibility with PS1 and PS2 was ever to come along - so no surprise when the 5 couldn't . Probably want you to sign up to Spotify or something Sony get a kick-back from to stream music instead.

@Gbarsotini you can put a PS2 DVD or PS3 Blu-ray disc in the PS4 or 5 without a problem - it's the console knowing what to do with it once it's in that's the problem . All a question of emulation and we know the PS5 isn't grunty enough to emulate the Cell architecture.

@sanderson72 oh well, you ruined my dream. haha.. jk, thanks for the reply!

@Snake_V5 Yeah, others said it as well as I could, but the idea is, rather than making two separate consoles, and boxing and shipping them separately and managing different inventories, two different chassis shapes, etc, they just make one machine, the "PS5 Slim", which has no disc drive, and has an attachment point for the disc accessory, and distribute the raw consoles to the packaging facilities.

Then package some of them bundled with a disc drive accessory, to sell as "PS5 Slim with Disc Drive" which will become basically a higher end bundle than the "normal" PS5 that has no disc drive.

It's cheap for Sony and simplifies manufacture, which they certainly have had manufacture and distribution problems. We don't know price points. I could see the stand-alone PS5 staying the same all-digital price or getting a price cut, while I could see the disc drive version actually increasing in price, both because the drive itself will now cost more than before to produce, and because it helps discourage people from actually buying a disc drive and physical and thus push more sales digital where Sony makes much more money and helps end the used market.

I mean, Nintendo pre-Switch famously sold their revised model handheld consoles with no power supply, sold separately, so stranger things have happened.

They would definitely prefer shifting as much of the physical market as they can to digital, as that's much more profitable for them. Standardizing discless as the normal console and making disc drives a pricier accessory will help them do that as well.

As for digital vs physical, digital sales are definitely the #1 way games are sold now, so it's already the most popular option, but physical is still a large base. Though Sony's data is a little ambiguous because it bundles DLC and indie games etc into the "digital game sales", so it doesn't really clarify if major games are consumed digitally as much or not.

Personally, I was die hard physical "pry it from my cold dead hands" for a long time. But starting late last gen, after I got my X1X, I went all digital on both PS and XB, and over time even went that way on Switch mostly. The main reasons were "game sharing" (two console players in the house so it nets cheaper), and.....I've been gaming for a long time, between, what, 24 consoles/platforms including PC (in the days when games were boxed discs), you can imagine by now I have towers of game boxes/cases stacked. It was all too much, and I couldn't be buried under game cases anymore! I still buy occasional physical for Switch for collector/practical reasons, but that's about it. I doubled dipped a little, re-buying games I still have physically digitally on sales. I still have the P5 Take Your Heart day 1 collectors edition with the Morgana Plushie in shrink wrap...and I've now bought it 3x digitally (og, Royal, and now Royal on XB....and still have not played it! I'll probably have added a Switch copy by the time I do, lol.)

Then again with the price of games these days, and the time it takes to wait for sales to make the prices reasonable, stacks of games may not have been a problem this gen!

@Bagwag82 It's what Sony did to them that counts I actually still have my phat as well and, knock wood, it's fine. The others, lived a life as the home theater center and DVD player back when the console was the "only does everything" center of the home theater.

They were all Slim models (the normal slim that still has the disc slot not the late era Super Slim with the tray) and every single one of them, the disc drive broke. The machines all run, but no disc reading, and my PS3 library is all physical. So this separate disc drive design would have been much appreciated for those!

Hmmmm make a version that also supports reading PS1, PS2 and PS3 discs ?

I'm looking forward to finally getting a PS5 later next year. Hopefully stock will be available by then and Sony won't raise the price.

I’m assuming this mythical model would feature a slight bump in horsepower... awaiting further details!

I’ll buy it if it doesn’t have coil-whine or noisy fans like the ufo-nidec.

Digital owner here: Great idea. I still just play digital games, but m only regret in getting the digital version is missing out on 4K movies; Atmos or DTS:X encoding is usually only on 4K discs and I overlooked that when choosing my PS5 version.

As others have said, I'd buy an external drive if that was compatible, but from the sounds of it, it'll only work with this new model. I'll continue to wait for a PS5 Pro.

It has to match the specs of the current PS5 drive. So it will play Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Blu-ray. Current Drive doesn’t recognize CDs, so those are out of the question.

I always invest in a charging station. I’ve got the official Sony branded one for my PS5. I have a really neat one for my switch. It can charge four joycons or two joycons and a pro controller.

@WCamicase reading the discs is not the issue. Running the software is apparently too hard for PlayStation to implement.

@OrtadragoonX eh, you do you - I always have a phone charger by the sofa so I can give my phone a quick boost before leaving the house, etc, which means that it's no problem to plug in my controller even while it's in use

@NeThZOR True, but the drive cannot read any of those formats as well, so the first step to make it work with your current discs would be being able to read them

PS2 emulation might be realistic, but would take time to reach the level of accuracy demanded of a paid product. The hardware of the PS3 was very exotic and unlikely to be able to be emulated in software to the required degree of accuracy on the PS5.

What they may be able to do, is create an accessory that contains an amount of the required hardware which the PS5 could hand off to, but it would likely be expensive to manufacture, and too niche a product to recoup R&D costs.

It's all stuff which can be worked around but Sony are a business, if there's no potential profit to be realised then they're not going to do it.

@WCamicase The PS4 and PS5 can read those discs - well apart from the PS1 and PS2 black CD discs. PS2 DVD and PS3 Blu-ray discs can be read by the PS4 and PS5 but they have no idea what to do with it once it has been inserted.

For a similar comparison, try sticking a PS2 DVD or CD disc into a Slim PS3 and you'll get a message telling you it's a PS2 game disc and it can't do anything with it (due to the lack of the Emotion Engine chip)

Perfectly happy with the two I have. I've never minded the size or looks, It looks like the Sydney opera house sitting under my telly, and a big improvement on the PS2 and PS3 it sits next too...

Glad to see them offering options though, we are all different

@RadioHedgeFund That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It will play the same games with the same graphics. You're better off buying a stand for much less, that will let you fit your current PS5 under your existing tv. That or buy a larger tv.

@FatalBubbles Still would love to see the sales when they leave out the digital only stuff and the digital only games.

The same goes for MT and DLC because they don't add it to the disc with the physical copy or rerelease. And let's not forget the horrible state of some physical releases with the new low ofcourse with COD that has a launcher on a disc.

They can't wait to go digital completely so they control the market 100% no second hand and complete price control.

@BeskarHead Plus streaming movies is really a step down in quality almost every time.

@OrtadragoonX Why does the future external drive have to match the specs of the current internal drive? As long as it reads PS4 & PS5 discs that should be the only similar requirement. It's 2 years later, hopefully the specs are better, ie faster read speed.

In 2023 w/ streaming being so popular I could easily see Sony dropping streaming media from the drives, less heat, less wear & tear, less repairs, and no licensing fees.

UHD and blu-ray would be nice to have, but so would the Horizon Forbidden West dlc on the PS4 where the base game is.?

@sanderson72 Did it ever get confirmed that the ps4/5 disc drives are physically incapable of reading CDs? I've always assumed it's just that the drivers etc aren't there. To this day the thought of a drive that is literally unable to read a cd (but dvds and blu rays) seems odd to me. I'm not that knowledgeable on the subject though.

@Balosi Out of pure scientific interest, I just put a CD into the PS4 Pro's disc drive. There are a lot of disc accessing sounds, with the disc icon flashing away in the top right for quite a while, before it eventually shows it on the desktop as an 'Unknown disc' so I think it looks like the PS4 can read it but doesn't know what to do with it afterwards.

Lets face it, the PS3 and PS4 drives are going to be pretty much the same hardware (if not exactly) , so the 4's inability to handle CDs looks like an operating system omission, and a planned one at that. As to why CD playback would be banned? No idea as it was always a welcome feature on the PS3 (especially with the virtual earth!) Dunno about the 5 as that has the ultra HD blu-ray drive so perhaps different lasers and so on?

I think they'll retain the same shape, but make it smaller. The initial driveless version will look the same as the digital now but under the plates there will be clips, you take the plate off attach a drive, then simply add a drive plate... Anyway, if it's less power hungry I'll sell my OG for it! (15p an hour, takes me back to the arcades?)

@sanderson72 it's an odd one, as far as I know Sony have never clarified that the drive is literally incapable of reading them. Not that it really matters I guess.

This should be a great concept. Just buy two consoles ( one for back up ) over the next few years and 3 or 4 spare drives and the system could last for years maybe decades.

Ingenious solution if it works, might bring the prices down if it simplifies the production process too.

To ensure your collection of ps4/5 games will be playable for your lifetime I'd suggest a purchase of two of the new base units and 4 of the drive attachments( over the space of a few years not all at once). That way you'll always have a new drive attachment to use !

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