Sony has quietly begun to take pre-orders on a new version of its PlayStation 5 Digital Edition console that weighs significantly less than the previous version. The new system can be ordered only in Japan for now.
Sony's revised version of the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition (model number CFI-1100B01) weighs 3.6 kilograms, which is 300 grams lighter than the original version, reports PSU. The new model also has a different way of attaching a vertical stand to the system. All other dimensions and capabilities of the console remained the same.
The new version of Sony's PlayStation 5 Digital Edition will first be available in Japan. Some retailers were expected to start selling the product on July 20. Meanwhile, Sony's PS5 Digital Edition was out of stock in the company's U.S. PlayStation store.
Suppliers of game consoles are always eager to lower costs of their hardware since in most cases they sell their systems at a loss. Losing 300 grams of weight clearly indicates that Sony has re-architected its PlayStation 5 Digital Edition internally, but at this point it is unclear what exactly the company did with its console. 300 grams is actually quite a lot and, to lose them, Sony might have needed to install a new cooling system, PSU, and/or motherboard.
One of the ways to significantly decrease pricing of a game system is to use an SoC made using a thinner process technology that is cheaper in manufacturing. Yet, transitioning an SoC to a brand-new node a year after initial release is not something that happens often since, in a year, almost any IC gets cheaper because of higher yields. Furthermore, designing a new SoC is expensive these days.
What is more likely is that Sony (or its partner AMD) has optimized power delivery of the SoC, which enabled it to reduce power consumption of the chip and allowed to use a lighter cooling system and/or a different PSU. At this point, this is pure speculation though. Perhaps, the company has re-architected the internal design of its PS5 Digital Edition and managed to reduce weight of all components.
We have reached out to Sony seeking for a comment and will update the story if we hear back.
