We have a new report that Sony is designing a PlayStation 5 Slim, and that it will be coming the 3^rd quarter of 2023.

In our prior coverage, we had reported on a redesign that Sony already made on their latest PlayStation 5 models. The internals have significantly reduced in size, with a smaller heatsink, a new heatpipe to redirect heat draw, and a heat shield for the SSD enclosure. These came with the same PlayStation 5 enclosure, but people who did buy this new model could note that it was a significantly lighter console.

We also reported on rumors for a new model of PlayStation 5 being in development. This new version of the console was expected to release next year. While it didn’t have a huge innovation, the news going around was that it was going to have a removable disc tray, so that gamers who did want to keep playing physical games could opt to do so by buying the add-on.

While we considered that rumor credible at the time, it seemed impractical for Sony to create confusion in the market by introducing a third model of PlayStation 5, when there wasn’t sufficient differentiation in the two models that already existed. One of those PlayStation 5’s did not have a disc tray, while one did. The third model might cause problems for consumers who could confuse it with the first model without a disc tray, presumably if that model could not be upgraded with a tray after the fact.

But now, everything makes more sense with this rumor in mind. This new model was designed with a die-shrink treatment. Not only will this new console be smaller, it will use less voltage, and run cooler. That all means it’s going to be even lighter than any PlayStation 5 models that have already released, and it would justify a complete redesign.

If the new PlayStation 5 simply looks different from all the previous models, it should alleviate any confusion on its capabilities. It is possible that the new PlayStation 5’s design will make it look like it could be upgraded with a disc tray. When Sony redesigned their PlayStation 2s mid cycle, they made sure it was clear that that console’s new model had an expansion bay, that could be attached with either a network adapter or the official PlayStation 2 hard disk drive.

Whatever the case, it would certainly be interesting if Sony brought back the PlayStation Slim idea, that skipped only the PlayStation 4, but was present for every other version of PlayStation, including  the PlayStation Portable and the Vita.

Source: The Leak