Sony quietly removes 8K marketing from PlayStation 5 packaging before rumoured PS5 Pro release

Sony has been selling the PlayStation 5 (PS5) for years at this point. Additionally, the PS5 Slim (curr. $449 on Amazon) has been on sale for almost a year. For context, the company stated in 2020 that the PS5 is not only 'compatible with 8K displays at launch' but also that a 'future system software update' would enable 'output resolutions up to 8K when content is available, with supported software'. Accordingly, Sony has advertised all PS5 models since then as being 8K capable.

In short, the likes of Digital Foundry continue to speculate whether 8K/60 Hz output on current PS5 consoles is even possible, principally because of the 32 Gbit/s limitation associated with its HDMI port. Incidentally, Sony has now removed any reference on the PS5's packaging of it being an 8K-capable device. On the one hand, Redditors have noticed retail units shipping with '4K/120' and 'HDR' labels. On the other hand, Sony's e-commerce platform reflects this with no mention of 8K on render images of its retail packaging.

In comparison, third-party retailers still show Sony's older packaging style, even for its unofficial Slim model. Ultimately, the reasoning behind the removal of 8K marketing from the standard PS5 may lie in the upcoming PS5 Pro. While Sony has not announced a Pro model yet, it is rumoured to be doing so later this year. For reference, the PS5 Pro is expected to target 8K/30 FPS but only with help from an AMD FSR and NVIDIA DLSS alternative called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR).