Sony Reportedly Prepping PS5 With 6nm AMD CPU

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Sony's partners are gearing up for a redesigned PS5.

PlayStation 5
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

According to a report on DigiTimes, Sony's manufacturing partners are preparing to start production of a redesigned PlayStation 5 model in about a year from now. The new model is expected to be cheaper to build, which will enable the company to cut the price of its latest console, which is in line with typical strategy to cut a console's price after two years on the market. The redesigned unit is projected to have a shorter lead time, which should improve supply. 

The new version of Sony's PlayStation 5 will reportedly rely on an AMD-designed system-on-chip (SoC) made using TSMC's N6 (6 nm) fabrication process as opposed to the current SoC which uses TSMC's N7 technology. Sony did not comment on the information to Digitimes. From the article, it appears the redesign is more internal, rather than changing the console's physical appearance.

Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL), a part of ASE Technology Holding, and Tongfu Microelectronics are projected to continue providing chip packaging services for Sony's assembly partners. Meanwhile, no company has officially confirmed its involvement with a redesigned PS5. 

TSMC's N6 process uses extreme ultraviolet lithography for up to five layers which allows the use of multipatterning, speeding up manufacturing and potentially increasing yields. Also, the N6 technology promises up to 18% higher transistor density compared to N7, which can shrink die size and further reduce costs. Meanwhile, N6 continues to use the same design rules as N7 and enables designers of SoCs to re-use the same design ecosystem (e.g., tools, IP), which drops development costs. 

Sony sold over 7.8 million PlayStation 5 game consoles since the product was launched last November till the end of Q1 2021, which makes the system one of the fastest selling gaming machines ever. Demand for PS5 is likely to exceed supply for months to come, and some industry insiders expect Sony's partners to produce more than 10 million PlayStation 5 consoles this year.

Anton Shilov
Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

16 Comments Comment from the forums
  • thepersonwithaface45
    Epic, I was gonna wait for the next model, good to know there's talk about making one
    Reply
  • Heat_Fan89
    thepersonwithaface45 said:
    Epic, I was gonna wait for the next model, good to know there's talk about making one
    Well seeing I still can't get one, this is welcomed news. Besides I am waiting for the PS5 Slim or PS5 Pro because I saw a PS5 display model at Best Buy and that sucker is humongous.

    Come to think of this I would not be surprised if we see this in the mid-cycle PS5's.
    Reply
  • Eximo
    Not sure you would want a slim version if you expect the same level of performance, a roughly 10% efficiency improvement isn't going to give them a huge budget to play with. These things are getting into some serious performance capabilities and making it smaller is going to lead to an increase in fan noise or a loss in sustained performance.

    Based on the article, they aren't even talking about changing the design, just the internals to reduce costs.
    Reply
  • linuxdude
    | TSMC's N6 process uses extreme ultraviolet lithography for up to five layers
    | which allows the use of multipatterning, speeding up manufacturing and potentially increasing yields.

    If you don't know what the sentence you are currently writing means - just omit it and no harm is done.
    Reply
  • Heat_Fan89
    Eximo said:
    Not sure you would want a slim version if you expect the same level of performance, a roughly 10% efficiency improvement isn't going to give them a huge budget to play with. These things are getting into some serious performance capabilities and making it smaller is going to lead to an increase in fan noise or a loss in sustained performance.

    Based on the article, they aren't even talking about changing the design, just the internals to reduce costs.
    I've been buying enough Playstation's since 2000 and Sony always makes them smaller mid-cycle. They introduced the PSOne, PS2 Slim, PS3 Slim and PS4 Slim. They were all much smaller than the launch consoles. The PS5 is a behemoth in size, too big for my taste. So I would rather wait for the mid-cycle release, either the PS5 Slim or PS5 Pro. If the PS5 Pro does come about i'll get that one.
    Reply
  • hannibal
    Not Big update, but allows Sony to save some money from cooling the chip.
    Reply
  • Eximo
    I don't dispute they have done that in the past, but in some cases the design changes were more drastic then just making it smaller, they took the PS2 chip out of the PS3 for example. Also a lot more to gain by process node shrinks back then, now, not so much. Consoles tended to launch a generation behind, this time they are on the cutting edge (excepting Apple using 5nm for the M1)

    It would save them more money to not change the exterior design, just saying. This is a very minor improvement, just means they get more chips per wafer and it will be slightly more efficient. They could even use the same circuit board. If this were 3 or 4 years in I would maybe agree, but we are barely into this console cycle (and those have been shrinking as well) And the reverse has been true of late, they keep upgrading the console with new capabilities.

    Might be too early for a Pro version of the console. All they really have left is 8K capability, and they should save that for a good while until GPU tech catches up to the idea. 4K 120hz HDR? 4K 3d? Another generation of VR support?

    As hannibal says, they could save a little by reducing the cooler size, but again that means going to the supplier and re-tooling, but that could be as simple as switching materials or leaving out a few fins to save 12 cents per unit.
    Reply
  • helper800
    linuxdude said:
    | TSMC's N6 process uses extreme ultraviolet lithography for up to five layers
    | which allows the use of multipatterning, speeding up manufacturing and potentially increasing yields.

    If you don't know what the sentence you are currently writing means - just omit it and no harm is done.
    Well, if you know the underlying technologies better its more useful to actually say what you mean than to make a snide remark. What specifically did the author say that was incorrect? I am personally not informed on the micro architectures being discussed.
    Reply
  • VforV
    Hm, if this turns out to be true... I don't know what to do now.

    I was considering buying a PS5 (if I can get one), because it seems it's "easier" to get one, that a new GPU at a reasonable price... but now this rumor...

    Oh well, I think even if it's true, it will more likely be available for Holiday season 2022, so a long way to go still.

    Maybe nothing has changed for me actually and I should get the PS5 anyway. The other reason is that I don't really need an better PS5 (upgraded or Pro version) since I game on a 1080p TV and I don't want to get a 4k one soon.
    Reply
  • hotaru.hino
    Eximo said:
    Consoles tended to launch a generation behind, this time they are on the cutting edge (excepting Apple using 5nm for the M1)
    I'd argue that this is a good thing, because being on bleeding edge comes with problems. Push the volume out now, work out the kinks, then later shrink it, because at the very least you know it was the manufacturing process that would cause problems and not stuck wondering if it's the hardware design or the manufacturing process

    It would save them more money to not change the exterior design, just saying.
    They'll probably change the exterior anyway because fashionable electronics are a thing unfortunately. And considering how many PS5s have already been sold, I think they've gotten their money's worth on the tool and die setup.
    Reply