A Whole New Kind of Unboxing
With the launch of next generation hardware a little over a month away, the anticipation is reaching a fever pitch. This past week has seen influencers get hands on with both Microsoft and Sony’s next generation efforts, and with both companies trying to move the needle of public perception in their favour, Sony has released a video showing a full teardown of a PS5.
The presentation was given by vice president of mechanical design Yasuhiro Ootori, and honestly watching him tear the hardware apart with precision is as satisfying as watching a plane take off in a Miyazaki film. Ootori begins by removing the base, which attaches like a camera tripod baseplate using a single screw when in vertical mode. If you want to display your PS5 horizontally, the base plate clips on in sturdy fashion and the screw is stored in a neat little compartment in the bast.
Next in the teardown, Ootori removed the huge white side panels that give the PS5 its signature curve. These panels appear easy enough to take off, and definitely suggests that Sony will be releasing other colour-ways and likely special edition side panels to customise your playstation, not to mention the myriad of 3rd party options sure to be available post-launch.
With the side panels removed, Ootori points out two large dust catchers, which are easily to access and vacuum in order to remove the inevitable dust that plagues our machines. The end of the video notes however that these dust catchers do not guarantee the machine won’t clog with dust – whether that is a cause for concern or just some corporate COA remains to be seen. Also easy to access is an empty space for M.2 Interface and PCLe4.0 support. Put simply, this will allow PS5 users to add storage space using a number of 3rd party options unlike the Xbox Series X/S which can only be updated using a Seagate card. As next-generation games are likely to be BIG, this is a reassuring feature.
One of the key takeaways from the teardown video is how much effort Sony has put into making the PS5 a quiet and cool machine – something the various influencers noted in their hands on previews. Not only does the PS5 feature a 120mm double sided air intake fan, but also liquid metal thermal conductor – the result of a 2 year Research and Development journey designed to provide long term stability and high cooling performance. The PS5 also contains a very cool-looking heat sink which has been engineered to produce cooling capability comparable to vapor chambers – without the added cost. How we prevent our consoles from overheating is only becoming more important as the hardware becomes more powerful, and while many have poked fun at the PS5 for its size, I recall my slim PS2 would get hot enough to fry an egg, so the attention to cooling is much appreciated here!
There are a few other interesting nuggets of information from the teardown video; the PS5 features multiple USB ports including USB A and C and support for ultra high speed USB, and if you purchase the disc-based version you will find the Ultra HD bluray disc player is metal cased and double insulated to reduce noise – allowing you to enjoy near silent running when the disc spins. The video also delves into the amazing performance potential of the 8 core CPU, the AMD Radeon GPU, 8 GDDR6 memory, and 825GB SSD – all of which add up to the PS5s much touted graphical capability and loading speeds. Of course, we will have to wait until we get our hands on some true next-generation games to see what all of that hardware really means!
With the next-generation console launch race heating up, Sony has elected to stay cool by showing off their machine inside and out, which is great because now we don’t have to and avoid the risk of exposure to laser radiation, electric shock, and other injury mentioned in the video disclaimer. In all seriousness, Sony’s approach to marketing the PS5 is is a blend of their efforts with the PS3 and PS4, the hardware focus of the former and the games first focus of the latter. Time will tell if this approach pays off.
Did you see anything in the video that convinced you either way on buying a PS5? Let us know in the comments!