New PlayStation 5 model with a detachable disk drive is reportedly coming next year

It has been almost two years since Sony announced the PlayStation 5. While the console has received minor chassis modifications in this period, there is still no sign of a Pro or Slim model, although there have been plenty of rumours about the former. Industry insider Tom Henderson, who accurately predicted the DualSense Edge's launch months in advance, has some new information about some new PlayStation 5 hardware.

Tom (via Insider Gaming) says Sony will launch a new PlayStation 5 model with a detachable disc drive. It will be sold in a bundle or separately, and will interface with the console via a USB-C port at the back. However, it is unknown if existing PlayStation 5 Digital Edition owners can buy the said drive and connect it to their consoles via the front USB-C port. If the console allows it, Sony could enable the functionality via a software update. It could help bolster PlayStation 5 Digital Edition sales because players would no longer have to worry about being locked in a digital-only ecosystem.

Sony also plans to design a new body for the console called "Chassis D". As far as internals are concerned, it will run the same hardware as its predecessors, implying that it will run the same AMD APU as the others. Tom concludes by stating that the detachable disk drive will not "look" external and blend in with the overall PS5 aesthetic. The new PlayStation 5 variant with a detachable disk drive is expected to hit shelves sometime in September 2023.

It is no secret that the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition didn't sell nearly as well as its disk drive-toting counterpart. CD sharing is still very common in the console ecosystem, especially in regions with prohibitively high game prices. The PlayStation 5 with a detachable disk drive could eventually replace the Digital Edition entirely. Sony could then sell the base console plus disk drive at a "discounted" price (~US$550-600) and just the drive for US$150-200.

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